Buttons
by MistressOrchid
Summary: Learn the reason Beldam started taking children and why she was so passionate about keeping Coraline there with her. Maybe she was replacing someone? Someone who left in order to keep everyone safe. Main Other Wybie x Other Coraline side Wybie x Coraline
1. A Girl with Button Eyes

Chapter One

Buttons

How long had she been down here?

Days…Weeks…Months...yeah, probably months…

The frail little girl let out a sigh. This is…awful. Yeah, that was the only word she could think of, awful! Simply awful! Here she was, trapped, yes trapped, against her will in a damp dark room, freezing, thirsty, starving…wanting…

She attempted to gulp with a dry throat; she hadn't been given in water for so long. "W-w-" she tried to call out but she couldn't find her voice. The girl had screamed yelled and cried out his name so many times she was sure her voice would shatter if she tried again. Even then she wanted to call for him.

She shifted around in the make shift bed that she had been given to sleep upon. It didn't help for the sheets with thin and tattered so they could barely protect her body from the low temperature of her prison. The girl sat on the edge of the bed, flinching as her toes hit the cold stone floor. Her attempt to stand up lasted for maybe a second before she fell to the ground, hissing in pain as she landed on her elbow. The girl knew she couldn't give up, getting on all fours attempting to crawl. She probably wouldn't get very far due to her weak limbs but she had to try! It was better than nothing. Letting out tiny grunts she began to move.

Nothing had changed since the last time she tried to leave this place, the floor was damp and cold, the icy moisture resonating all the way to her elbows, which were now shaking. Her knees were losing it too, she could feel the searing pain shooting all the way up her spine; her poor joints couldn't take much more of this. She didn't give up though, the tough little girl, she began military crawl.

Finally, after what felt like forever, she felt herself hit a wall; literally. The little girl brought her hand out and let it feel her way upwards. Somehow, goodness only knows how, she managed to get on her feet, gripping her fingers on the smooth wall; she growled when she felt her nails break off and the blood trickle, causing her to grip harder so she didn't slip.

Man this wall was smooth, very smooth, almost fluid like water under her fingertips. This didn't feel like a wall, it was far to delicate, yet at the same time when she hit it with a closed fist, it didn't move. It was odd-

"Strange…it feels…almost like glas-"

It was then two bony hands came out of the wall and grabbed her. She didn't even have time to find her voice to scream before being pulled through the wall.

"There we go darling!"

The girl had to cover her eyes from the blinding light emitted from where ever she was pulled into. It was so strong, but then again she had been in darkness for forever; she was more thankful that this place was warm, the air even the carpeting under her feet was warm. She could feel her body begin to heat up, she could feel her strength coming back to her brittle body, little by little. Eventually, after a brief moment of rapid blinking and letting her body readjust to her new environment, she was able to open her eyes. It was then she was able to put back to together how she came to be in that icy prison.

That's right…she was in her house, and she…had been grounded…

"Feeling better darling?"

The little girl cringed at the sickeningly sweet voice that called out to her. She was so busy looking at everything around her that she didn't notice the _**thing**_ that was standing right in front of her. With angry determination, she looked up at looming figure in front of her. It was clearly a woman, tall, every part of her was boney, short black hair and, oddly enough, a pair of black buttons for eyes that pierced right through the soul.

This was her mother…Beldam.

"And how are we today dear? Are you hungry? Of course you are you've been grounded for a month!"

Huh, it was shorter than she thought.

"What would you like dear? Everything? I could make you everything your little heart wants!" Beldam ranted and raved in a dream-like manner as she wandered into the kitchen. Her daughter didn't even get a word in edge-wise; then again she never got to. Odd that her mother was in such in a good mood that she was oblivious of the world around her. The only time that happened was when she put misfortune on someone else other than herself. The daughter of Beldam sighed; she pitied whoever it was. She just prayed that it wasn't-

She shook her head violently.

Beldam's daughter refused to think like that. She had to keep her hopes up that her loved ones were safe. She was beaten before she was put into the mirror room, so Bedlam had all her anger out of her. The girl could only conclude that Beldam wouldn't need to make the others suffer. She couldn't help but feel worried though in the back of her head; if her mother hurt any of them she would never forgive herself.

To keep these thoughts from her head, the little girl decided to walk around, though it felt like she was walking on glass with every step she took. She had to bite her lip in order to keep quiet, her mother hated when she was 'noisy' and luckily she managed to do so.

Upon looking around she learned that the house hadn't changed at all in the month she was gone. It was still brightly decorated and well furnished. Nothing was out of place, everything squeaky clean that one could almost see your reflection in it. Same smells, same sounds; it was the same fake, sweet, disgusting home.

Finally she found her way to the family room, or, as Beldam called it, the Bug Room, due to the bug furniture her mother had so kindly placed there. Despite the slight eeriness to the room she liked it here the most, it was always quiet here. Just like the rest of the house, this room had not changed, and for that, she was grateful.

That's when she saw it, the mirror above the fireplace.

She saw that her hair was longer now, it reached past her shoulders, still bluish yet black hair held with a butterfly clip; though it was in desperate need of a brushing. The rest of her body wasn't as all right as her hair, her skin was a sickly color and her face had hollowed out due to lack of food and water for long periods of time. She looked like if someone touched her, she'd fall to the floor into a million pieces. The girl could feel the anger being to boil in her from remembering the violent treatment she went through to get this way.

"Meow!"

Beldam's daughter gasped as she looked around for where the sudden sound came from, finally landing upon a rather scrappy black cat. The little girl knew this cat; it was the one her mother had been fighting with all these years. Ever since she was a baby she could remember Beldam and this cat at war with each other; their little game had been going on for goodness how long. The ebony haired girl cautiously knelt down and held out her hand, allowing the cat to smell her who then proceeded to stroke its head against it.

"Strange…you don't have button eyes, how is that possible?"

"I come from a different world, that is why."

The girl brought her hand back as if it touched fire, looking down at the cat with large button eyes. "H-how is that possible? Cats can't talk," she stated. The cat blinked its big blue eyes up at her, "well, as you can see, I can," he stated as he came up to her leg and rubbed against it. Despite her fear, she kept quiet, the last thing she needed was for her mother to find her with someone else other than her. That's why she was grounded in the first place: she was playing without her mother way too much; she showed too much love to someone else. Well, that was true, she admitted it; she admitted she loved him more, her beloved W-

"Are you scared of her?"

The cat's question pulled the girl out of her thoughts, looking down at him she pondered. "Scared…not for me, but for everyone else," the cat knew she was lying, heck, even she knew she was lying.

"I'm more…angered."

The cat's ear peaked up with interest as he let her continue. "I…hate her," she ground out, "I'm tired of the beatings, and being grounded, and having to be locked up like some bird!" she felt small tears begin to form around her eyes. "I shouldn't have to be treated this way! I deserve to be with whoever I want to be!" she let out a pained sigh "I j-just want to be done with her…I want her to rot!"

"Coraline?"

The little black haired girl looked up with feared button eyes, jolting up to push a giant cockroach in front of the door. Coraline looked around before looking at the cat, "is there another world that you live in?" The cat was silent, "tell me! Is there another place without magic? Without button eyes? Without _**her**_?" The cat's eyes bore into her, as if trying to find something that in the end he couldn't locate; finally the cat nodded. Coraline took in a deep breathe of determination.

"Then I'm getting out of here!"

Pushing sounds could be heard from behind the door, "Coraline? Coraline open this door," she heard Beldam command softly. Meanwhile the girl in question was looking around for something, the cat watched curiously at the girl dash from part of the room to the other. "I have to get out of here, I need to get stronger, but I can't do it here, Beldam will never allow it. I can't save anyone if I can't defeated her…Aha!" she said when she looked under the couch, pulling out what she needed. Coraline quickly walked past the cat and towards the left side of the room's wall, kneeling down. The cat came up to her side to find the object in her hand, was in fact:

"Chalk?"

Coraline nodded, "something I read in my magical studies, chalk can create anything, even doors, and so if I do this right-"a giant boom came from the door, "I should be able to make a portal to your world, here tap your paw here!" The cat did so and out materialized from her drawing on the wall a door.

"CORALINE! OPEN THIS DOOR THIS MINUTE!"

Coraline looked over her shoulder quickly before going back to her drawings, quickly a key with a black button on top of it; the cat touched it again the key came alive. Coraline grabbed the key and placed it into the door's hole and opening it. Coraline looked in wonder at the giant hall she had to get through. "There's no time! Hurry!" the cat commanded; Coraline nodded as she was about to go through it only to be stopped when her hand froze and burst into dust, causing her to scream in horror.

"CORALINE!!!"

"It's your eyes!"

"M-my eyes?"

"The button eyes are what holds you here!"

"OPEN THE DOOR CORALINE!!! NOOOOW!"

"B-but I- I don't have any-"

"If you don't have them you'll burst into dust the second you go through that door!"

Coraline ran her fingers through her hair, shaking for her life if her mother got through. She would surely be grounded forever, she go back into that prison. Coraline let out a strangled cry; she would surely never see her loved ones again.

That's when her world went dark; the cat had ripped her eyes out.

Coraline let out a scream of horror more than pain at the feeling of losing her eyes though they went unheard from Beldam's own screams. Coraline could feel the cat climb unto her, despite her kicking and struggling. The cat…well she wasn't sure what the cat was doing. She suddenly felt a big burst of warmth fill her, something she had only felt once, and this was nothing compared to that time. The cat pulled her out of the thoughts again.

"Open your eyes."

"But-"

"Open them"

The girl did as she was told and, low and behold, she could see, if anything a little clearer. Had the cat put her button eyes back in? Something felt off though, they didn't feel like her button eyes. That made sense; for she saw that her button eyes were lying on the ground right next to her. "How did-"

"CORALINE!"

"Nevermind, lets go!"

The cat hopped into the tiny hall and turned around to look at the scared Coraline. The little girl gulped as she moved towards it. It was then the cockroach flew across the room and standing there was an angry Beldam. Coraline let out a gasp as she scrambled into the hallway.

"CORALINE NO!"

Coraline looked at her mother with disgust as she turned around, grabbed her button eyes and key, and slammed the door in the spider woman's face. The door began to bang and rattle, causing Coraline and the cat to make a dash down the hallway. Coraline was just glad that the hall was big enough to crawl through.

"Coraline come back! Please I can't live without you! Darling! Get back here you little brat! Coraline!"

Coraline did her best not to listen to her mother's muffled voice as she climbed through the hall; she prayed that that would be the last time she would ever hear Beldam for a very, very long time. The thought of freedom began to swell up in her body. Her mother wasn't following them, so that must mean that she was safe.

The cat was way ahead of her, already at the other end waiting for her. Coraline grunted as she pushed on the door in front of her, squinting at the light coming through the opening.

Coraline crawled out to find, to her surprise, an exact replica of her family room, minus the bug furniture or any life. Coraline stood up and looked around, "this is…I suppose this world and the other world are replicas of each other huh?" Coraline looked down at the cat, who gave her a slow nod; Coraline's eyebrow rose. That's when she realized that this place had no magic, so that meant no more talking cat.

The little girl wandered around the house and found that the house had been abandoned for what looked like years. This caused her to sigh, hopefully no one else would come here and that meant that no one would find the door and go through it. The cat's meow caught her attention, turning around to look at him. "What are you doing silly kitty?" she asked in high spirits, "do you see…something…" Coraline words, as well as her body came to halt.

In front of her was a mirror, much like her home, and there was her reflection, but something was different. Coraline cautiously walked towards it till she was a breath away from it; she brushed her hair behind her ears as she looked at herself. She jumped though when she found both of her hands brushed her hair back; she figured whatever magic Cat used fixed her hand too. Coraline looked back up to look at the other magic that was placed on her.

Her button eyes had been replaced with two real ones!

One brown, one blue; Coraline looked at them from all angles curiously. "Needless to say…they're pretty, I always liked the color blue…" the girl looked down at the cat, "thank you…for everything, I truly appreciate it." The cat bowed its head in acknowledgement.

After that Coraline returned to the family room to lock the room, feeling stupid for not locking it in the first place, and then made her way outside. The girl looked up to see Cat looking at her from the porch railing. "I know you will continue your game with Beldam, so I won't ask you to come with me, but please understand I cannot stay here." The cat nodded. "I will return though, I don't know when, but I will, I can only hope you'll still be here Cat," Coraline sighed as she looked at the button key in her hand which she promptly threw into the trees before smiling at the black creature, "so until then…good bye."

And with that Cat watched Coraline run down the road, towards goodness knows what; she didn't even know.

Coraline panted as she ran with tears in her eyes from not the pain in her body, but the pain in her soul. Coraline could only think of one person, the one she left behind. She knew that it wasn't over; Coraline would have to get stronger as soon as possible.

"And then…I'll come back for you…Wybie…" the little girl declared before she ran into the darkness the forest held.

It would be years…no, centuries before the Other Coraline would return for Other Wybie. How was she supposed to know that a family would move in two months after she arrived in this world?

Or rather, how was she to know that the little boy with blonde hair would find the key?

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End of chapter 1! I hope you liked it! Much more is to come.

I just couldn't help myself but to write this. There's fan art that goes with this. Just let me know if you want to see it.

By the way, the chalk idea was inspired by "Pan's Labyrinth" watch it if you haven't people!

Please review guys! Chapter Two should be up soon!


	2. My Mirror

Chapter Two

My Mirror

"GIVE IT BACK CORALINE!"

Coraline Jones let out a laugh as she hopped over yet another rock. The young blue-black haired girl continued running through the forest, avoiding trees limbs and rocks with grace, in her hand, a wielding mask with a skull painted on it.

"Jonesy come on! Give it back!"

Coraline glanced over her shoulder to see her neighbor and friend Wybourne Lovat, Wybie for short, following right behind her. Coraline's smirk grew. She was impressed that Wybie had kept up with her for so long and had not tripped.

Oops, spoke to soon.

Wybie didn't see the tree stump coming up in front of him and that caused him to get his foot caught underneath it and fall face down into the ground. After hearing the huge 'thump' Coraline began to slow down in order to turn around; she figured she'd had teased Wybie enough for one day. When Coraline had walked up to him, she found Wybie was muttering something into the dirt causing her to snicker as she knelt down next to him. "You ok there Lovat?" Coraline asked.

Her neighbor let out a low mutter and gave her a thumb's up in response. Coraline sat down on the log waiting for her neighbor to sit up. "That was low Coraline," he stated wiping the dirt off of his coat, "stealing a guy's helmet, how would you feel if I stole your hat?" Coraline quickly placed her hands on the item in question the instant it came into jeopardy, "I'd punch your shoulder black and blue how about that!" Wybie merely shrugged, finally coming over and sitting down next to her.

"Wanna part of my sandwich, grandma made it?" Wybie asked as he pulled out a somewhat flattened peanut butter and jelly sandwich, split in two. Coraline's face scrunched at its unappealing look, but she decided to suck it up, "sure," she said with a shrug. Wybie's face broke out into a cheeky smile, quickly taking half of the sandwich and handing it to her. They began to eat in silence.

"So," Coraline swallowed, "summers coming up, got any plans?" Wybie looked up at the school and hummed, "nothing really, working on my bike mostly, you?" Coraline shrugged again, "garden work, I'm thinking about putting some morning glory around the house so it's less…pink." Wybie chuckled at the disdain that came from his good friend, after hanging around her for so long, he quickly learned her distaste for the color pink; blues and oranges were her type.

For a while the two conversed with each other and ate their sandwiches. Coraline had to admit she liked these moments. After her little trip to other world and encountering Other Mother, she began to appreciate things more. One thing for example was her time with Wybie. Sure, he still got on her nerves and she still punched him, but there were times, and they were FEW, that she truly enjoyed his company. It was during these times that she couldn't help but think of the Other Wybie…

A twig snapped.

Both Wybie and Coraline jumped at the sudden sound that broke the silence, searching left and right for any sign of life. That's when Coraline saw it…or rather…her…

Coraline could see not too far away there was a girl, their age, just standing there watching them. Coraline had a squint to make her out better. She was Coraline's height wearing a black trench coat, black leggings and boots, and an orange scarf; she could even have sworn she was wearing the same black hat and the same orange and green gloves too. Besides her outfit, Coraline gasped lightly at the girl's stare; despite the distance Coraline could see that the girl's one eye, while the other was shadowed, was a piercing ice blue color. The Jones girl was so amazed; she didn't react to the mysterious girl until she began to leave.

"Ah! Jonesy!" Wybie exclaimed, breaking Coraline from her thoughts. Coraline shook her head violently before she, as well as her neighbor, began to pursue the mysterious girl. Despite the fact that they were running and she was walking, she kept a pretty good distance from them; was she a ghost?

"Hey wait a second!"

I suppose not.

The girl turned around at Wybie's request, coming to an immediate halt. Coraline and Wybie stopped a few feet away from her to catch their breath; amongst their deep breathes, they heard the girl laugh lightly. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were following me." The two of them jolted up in shock to look at her.

She sounded…just like Coraline and…she looked like her!

Well there were some differences. This girl's voice sounded a bit more mature than Coraline's, as if she had seen a lot in her young age. Her face was definitely the same, same shape, same skin color, same delicate freckles around her eyes and cheeks, same smiling face. Like her voice though, there were slight changes, like her eyes for instance. Just as Coraline thought, her one eye was ice blue, but the other one was a deep brown, almost black color. Her hair, though bluish-black like Coraline's, was much longer, going past her shoulders and angled softly at the bottom.

It was like they were twins.

The look alike blinked as a small smile came to her face, "is something the matter?" Coraline and Wybie were silent, still gawking at her before Wybie let out an uneasy laugh, "n-no, its just, heh, we've never seen you around here before…" he lied. The girl tilted her head lightly as she smile grew, looking at the two of them with intense interest in her eyes, "yes…I'm new here…"

"O-oh you're new here? Well welcome then, I'm-"

"Wybie Lovat and you must be Miss Coraline Jones."

The two in question blinked, "h-how did-" Coraline finally found her voice before being cut off by her 'twin'. "I apologize for being so inquisitive, but you see, I've already been told about you by some of the locals," Wybie and Coraline looked at each other, "I was wondering if there were any kids here around my age and you were brought up, mainly Miss Coraline because, apparently, we look alike." Coraline laughed, finding her strength again, "I must admit there are some similarities," she wiggled her gloved hands as an example. The other giggled as she wiggled her own, "what can I say, they stand out yeah know," the two of them laughed in response.

"So, Miss um-"

"Oh call be Buttons, no need for formalities Wybie."

"Well Buttons, where are you from?"

"I just moved from Virginia."

Coraline watched the two of them with interest, she found it odd that Buttons didn't find Wybie well…odd, or at least annoying, but there was no sign of that. In fact, all Coraline could see in Buttons eyes was tenderness and…what looked like adoration of some kind; definitely not the normal reaction Wybie usually gets.

"So pray tell, I hear rumors of a well with a monster living in it, are they true?"

Coraline paled at the question; Wybie was quick to come back with, "nah, trust me, been there, done that, nothing's there." Buttons pouted, "awe what a shame, oh well, no use crying over nothing right?"

The three proceeded to chat with each other, asking questions about this and that; it was fascinating to find how well they all got along. After what felt like a few minutes, (though it was like hours) the three of them came to the clearing in the forest; Wybie's bike was there, waiting for them. "Awe, I guess this means I have to head in!" Coraline rolled her eyes at her neighbor's whining, "look if you want you can come back to my place for a bit…wanna come Buttons?" Button's tilted her head in curiosity, "your place? And where is that?"

"The Pink Palace Apartments."

That's when the oddest thing happened: Button's face went completely white and her smile disappeared from her face. Coraline was about to ask her if she was ok but just as quick as it came, the look was gone and a smile came back to her face, only this time it looked pained. "The Pink Palace? The giant pink house up on the hill?" Coraline scoffed, "ugh don't remind me, I hate that house, I want to take a paint brush to it!" That seemed to help her forget Buttons expression. Wybie shook his head before looking at Buttons with a warm smile, "so you want to join us?" Buttons was silent for awhile, her two companions looking at her with curiosity; she sighed and her smile grew.

"Sure. I'd love to."

It wasn't long before the three of them made it back to the Pink Palace, though they would have gotten there quicker if not for dragging Wybie's bike up the hill. Buttons didn't mind though, she was fascinated hearing about how it worked and how he built it; Coraline just wanted to gag. "This is a nice place Coraline," Buttons said looking up at it as Wybie put his bike upside the house. Coraline shrugged and smiled, "its pretty nice, the neighbors are a little odd, but they're fun once you get to know them." Buttons nodded in understanding, but Coraline could tell from her eyes that her look alike already knew that.

Wybie and Coraline walked up the porch with ease, but Buttons seemed to be struggling to get up to the door; the same could be said when they walked in. Buttons hesitated but managed to get inside only to look at the house for every side with every step. Wybie and Coraline looked at each other with raised eyebrows before looking at their new comrade.

"You ok there Buttons?"

The girl in question looked at them, letting out an uneasy laugh and shaking her head, "sorry." Coraline laughed, "its ok, this place is odd I know, you'll get used to it," Buttons nodded, "I'm gonna go find my folks, feel free to look around ok?" Buttons nodded again as Coraline ran off, leaving her along with Wybie. The Lovat boy scrunched back into his "shell" as it were, suddenly feeling really nervous; he let out an uneasy laugh, "so, um, Buttons-"

"You and Coraline get along very well don't you Wybie."

"Huh? Oh yeah, I-I suppose so."

"You're very lucky," Buttons states as placed a hand on the wall, feeling the wallpaper underneath her gloved fingertips. Wybie rubbed the back of his head, "y-you don't have a best friend?" Buttons didn't seem to be paying attention as she walked down the hallway, her hand still on the wall; finally she stopped and looked at him with a small smile, "not for a long time." Wybie kicked his foot out lightly, feeling bad for bringing it up. "However, I hope we can be the best of friends, in the future that is," Buttons said as she came back and looked at the Lovat boy with bright eyes. Wybie let his signature smile come to his face and quickly nodded.

The silence was broken when Coraline popped her head out of the kitchen door, "hey, you two wanna stay for dinner? Dad's making some unknown concoction." Buttons laughed lightly, "sounds like fun." Wybie nodded in agreement, "let me call my grandma," he said before pushing past Coraline to get to the phone. Coraline looked at Wybie with mild anger before looking at Buttons, "don't you want to call your parents?"

"Oh they won't mind."

Coraline looked at her 'twin' with curiosity before nodding and going back into the kitchen. Buttons giggled in response before looking around at the house, stopping her wandering eyes as she placed them on the family room doors. Buttons eyes squinted with darkness as she looked at the closed room.

"Buttons!"

The girl in question turned around with wide eyes. "Oh, yes! I'm coming!" she scrambled together before dashing into the kitchen, leaving her mysterious thoughts behind.

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Days turned to weeks in that small town. After a short while, it was obvious that Buttons was going to be just fine; it was almost creepy as to how well she was adapting to her new environment. Coraline and Wybie always had their new comrade with them, going on their crazy adventures and hanging out at their houses. Things were all and all going great.

Coraline really liked her, almost like her own sister, but she couldn't help but notice some things were a bit...off.

Buttons did fit in well with Coraline's friends and family but, almost too well. Coraline thought it was odd how Button's looked at Wybie the first time they met, but she soon learned that her look alike had the same reaction to meeting all of her neighbors, even her dad. She acted like someone who returned home after being away for a very long time. However, when it came to her mother, it was the opposite. Buttons is fine now, but when she first met Mrs. Jones, she flinched at every move the woman made; she couldn't even look at her in the eye, at least not for a few weeks after that.

Then there was the topic of her family. Buttons never talked about them! She was so mysterious about all of it. Every time they suggested they go over to her house, Buttons had some type of excuse, like 'my house is being worked on right now' or 'my folks are in a bad mood'; it was always something new. Coraline brought all this evidence up with Wybie, but he just shrugged it off and said it was probably nothing.

After awhile Coraline let her suspicions go to the back of her thoughts; Buttons wasn't doing anything bad, maybe it was just her paranoia getting the best of her. After everything that had happened to her when she moved here, she was a bit more cautious about things. Perhaps being cautious wasn't always the best of things.

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Buttons sighed into the air as she sat upon the rock that lay between the Pink Palace and the Lovat house. She had been debating going over to Coraline's house to see if she could play, but she remembered that the Jones girl and Wybie had to study at the library for awhile. So here she was, bored out of her mind.

"Meow!"

The sudden sound brought the Coraline look alike jumping out of her thoughts; she immediately looked down to see a black cat looking up at with big blue eyes. Silence filled the air for a brief moment before Buttons gasped, a smile coming onto her face as she picked the cat up and hugged it lovingly. The cat reciprocated by nudging her chin and letting out a low purr. "I thought I would never see you again Cat! It's been so long!" Buttons said with tenderness and joy in her voice. The cat's purring increased as Button's petted the felines head.

The sweet moment lasted a little longer before Cat jumped out of her lap and onto the ground. Buttons leaned over and looked at him with a smile, "where are you going you silly thing? Hey come back here!" she stated as she followed the now running cat. Buttons laughed the little child she was as she jumped over rocks and roots to keep up with them, unaware as to where she was going. Finally Buttons found Cat had stopped, so she slowed down before she reached him, "now where have you…led me…to…"

The Pink Palace.

Buttons gulped loudly at the sight of it, she always did before she went inside it. The girl looked down at her feline friend with wide eyes; he wouldn't have led her here unless he had a good reason, "has something happened?" The cat blinked and nodded softly. Buttons felt a chill go up her spine and her mouth go dry; this was much worse than she thought previously. She was scared but after gathering herself and taking a huge breathe, a determined look spread across her face.

"Show me."

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"I'm just saying that this project seems pretty pointless you know," Wybie stated to his black haired best friend. Coraline rolled her eyes as they made their way up the steps to her house, "pointless or not we have to do it, I am not about to fail because of you." "I didn't say I wouldn't do it," he stated as the Jones girl opened the door and walked inside, "I merely think it's stupid!" Coraline couldn't help but laugh lightly, "ok, that is true but…hm." Wybie tilted his head, "hm?"

"Strange…I don't remember those being open."

Wybie looked over to see that Coraline was referring to the family room doors that were in fact wide open. The two of them looked at each other before cautiously making their way over to the opening of the room. Coraline peeked over the frame to see if there was anything there in the room. At what she saw she let out a loud sigh of relief. "Buttons! You scared us! What are you doing in here?" she laughed in-between her breathes.

Coraline didn't get a response from her look alike; she just stood there with her face turned away from her two comrades. Wybie and Coraline looked at each other before attempting to talk to her again. "Sorry to keep ya waiting Buttons, but heh, you know how school projects are," Wybie said rubbing his neck with his gloved hand; again, no response.

"Meow."

Coraline and Wybie looked down to find Cat pop out from behind Button's feet, the look on his face was along the lines of 'you are in trouble'. After cat moved, so did Buttons, looking at the both of them with darkness in her eyes and anger on her face. Both Wybie and Coraline were taken a back; they had never seen their friend like this. Just as Coraline was about to speak Buttons spoke up.

"How long have you known about this?"

Coraline and Wybie were dumbfounded by the question, looking at her with clueless faces. Buttons glare seemed to get more intense with every second her question had gone unanswered. The Coraline look alike knew they hadn't gotten what she was talking about, so she cleared things up by pointing to the object in question.

The door to the Other World.

Coraline and Wybie gasped at Buttons when they saw what she was talking about. The inquiring girl folded her arms and her face became, if possible, sterner than before. Coraline had a hard time finding her words, but somehow she managed, "h-how did you-"

"Do you have idea what this door leads to?! It's dangerous Coraline!"

Wybie spoke up, "well how do you know about the door?"

"Who do you think made it?"

The two were speechless again as they looked at their serious comrade; Coraline I believe was hit the hardest with that. "W-what do you mean Buttons?" The girl in question sighed, her face turning from stern to sad, her shoulders slumped in defeat. The two at the door frame jumped a bit when Buttons raised her hand, only to realize she was just removing her hat; something she had never removed before. The two gasped at what they saw.

Buttons hair, as thought of, was exactly the same as Coraline's, all except for one thing. Coraline's hair was pulled back with a dragonfly hair clip. Buttons hair was pulled back by two black buttons, ones that looked almost too familiar to Coraline; buttons that looked like those of another place.

"I am Coraline…the Other Coraline."

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End of Chapter Two!

Hope you guys liked the interaction between Wybie, Coraline and Buttons (for what was given at least); you'll see much more in the future.

Wait around guys! Chapter Three will be up soon.


	3. Mourning Rain

Chapter Three

Mourning Rain

Coraline and Wybie were in utter shock at the bomb Buttons…no...the Other Coraline had just dropped. They tried to form words but nothing was coming out and their muscles didn't move an inch. Meanwhile the Other Coraline simply looked at them, no expression on her face; Cat was at her feet licking his paw, clearly bored waiting for their response. It seemed that they have a problem with what was going on at all; so they continued to wait for the human's to answer. Finally, after an excruciatingly long pause, Coraline managed to connect a few words together.

"Y-you're me-?"

Other Coraline shrugged, "more or less yeah."

"B-but I don't have an Other me."

"*laughter* Well as you can clearly see, you do."

"How come I never saw you there? The Other World I mean."

"I haven't been there in a _**very**_ long time."

Coraline blinked as she tried to take in everything that she just learned; she had an Other! Incredible! No wonder they looked so alike. Wybie piped up at that time, "w-wait, in order to be an Other, d-don't you need to have…you know…button eyes?" The Other Coraline let her serious face slip and a small smile appear as she tapped on the edge of her black button clips. No wonder they looked so familiar to Coraline.

"Th-those are-"

"My eyes? Well they used to be, couldn't bear to part with them or let them get into the wrong hands."

Cat decided at that time to let out a low whine that caught all of their attention; the Other Coraline picked him up and held him like a baby before looking at her comrades again. "He tells me you're the one who opened the door and met the Beldam," she stated; Cat turned his head to look at Coraline and Wybie to see what their reaction would be. Coraline seemed to get all of her courage out then, puffing out her chest a bit to prove so, "yeah, and I defeated her!"

"Correction, you defeated her…in a game, and cat may have scratched out her eyes, but she's far from dead."

Coraline tilted her head, "how do you know all that happened?"

Her look alike chuckled, "haven't you heard? Cats are far superior creatures!"

Coraline let out a groan while Cat let out multiple hisses that sounded like laughter; Wybie tilted his head in confusion. "So what? Why are you even here? Are you here for revenge or something?" Other Coraline raised an eyebrow in confusion, "revenge? My goodness Wybie no where close, you're not the reason I'm here." Coraline's face became similar to her Other; talk about a mirror. "You're not?" The button wearer shook her head, "I've been here much longer than you have Coraline and I have no reason to take revenge for my mother."

Coraline's face paled as she heard that, totally taken aback. She could feel her whole body go completely numb. "Wait, the thing with the creepy hand? That's your mother?" Wybie asked, completely unaware of Coraline's reaction. The Other's eyes darkened, "don't remind me, it's not something I'm proud to say," with that she brought Cat to the window sill so he could sit on it; she turned around to look at Coraline. Seeing her look alike in a stunned state, she became concerned so she walked over and placed a hand on Coraline's shoulder. The shocked girl jumped at the touch, drawing her back to what was currently happening. The girl looked into her Other's mismatched eyes, filled with concern and comfort, speaking in a delicate, soothing tone, "why don't we sit down."

The girl shook her head, having both her neighbor and her Other help her into one of the chair's in the room. Wybie sat in the one closest to Coraline while Other Coraline sat in the chair across from theirs; Cat decided this time to demand attention from the Lovat child, jumping into his lap and curl up. They all waited for Coraline to collect herself very patiently.

"You're the daughter…of Other Mother?"

Other Coraline nodded, "it makes sense after all, you have your mom, and Beldam is her Other, it's only natural that the Other Mother would be the mother of Other Coraline."

"I guess…well it explains that."

"What does?"

"Why you flinch whenever you see my mom."

Other Coraline's one eye twitched lightly, "sorry, nasty habit from way back when." Coraline nodded; she wasn't all that surprised at the concept of Other Mother being a frightening mom. "Um…Buttons-"

"Cora."

"What?"

"Call me Cora, I hate being called Buttons and Other Coraline is just too long."

Wybie nodded, "um Cora, y-you said that you've been here for a long time right?"

"That's right."

"How long? If you don't mind me asking."

"Hm…I believe it was shortly after this house was built."

Coraline felt like her jaw had just dropped to the floor, looking over she noticed Wybie had the same look on his face; he raised a shaky pointer finger. "B-but that would make you hundreds of years old!" Cora nodded with a small smile on her face, "that's about right, technically I've been here for a little more than 150 years." Coraline tilted her head a bit as she examined her Other, a look of determination on her face to find some proof on Cora's face to show she was as old as she said she was.

"Well you look good for your age."

Cora giggled lightly, "well thank you…now then, I think its time you explain to me exactly what happened while you were over there."

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If Coraline looked bad when she was told that Beldam had a daughter then Cora looked a millions times worse after being told what had happened in the Other World. Cora was hunched over, her hands clasped together with her lips pressed upon them; her eyes were wide with absolute horror. Coraline and Wybie looked at her with sympathetic looks on their face, not quite sure if comforting her was the best thing to do at this time.

"All of them…Miss Spink…Mr. Bobinski…Miss Forcible…all gone."

Coraline's frown deepened, "I'm so sorry Cora."

Cora lightly shook her head, "no it's not your fault…it's _**hers**_, it's always been hers." They were quiet again for awhile, unsure of what to say to one another to make things right. Suddenly Cora jumped up into a straight sitting position, her hands out at Coraline as if she needed something from her. Coraline looked at her Other with wide curious eyes.

"What about Wybie?"

Coraline gulped; she had hoped he wouldn't come up. "Y-you mean the Other Wybie…" Coraline started, receiving a sharp nod from Cora. Wybie looked at Coraline too, also a bit curious as to what happened to his Other for Coraline never went into detail about him. Tired of waiting Cora jumped up from her seat and stood looming over Coraline, her hands on the girl's shoulders. Coraline looked up helplessly at Cora's big, frantic eyes, "what happened? Where's Wybie?" her tone was on the point of cracking. Coraline stared at her for a few more moments before she sighed sadly in defeat.

"I'm sorry Cora…he didn't make it either."

Cora felt her world shatter around her as she fell to her knees; Coraline hunched over to see if she was ok only to find that her Other was not. Cora was stunned as the words sunk deeper.

The Other Wybie…was gone…

Cora's body began to shake, bringing her trembling fingers up to run them through her hair and clench; she shook her head as she closed her eyes tightly, feeling like this was a horrible nightmare. "No…no…" she said through her clenched teeth. All Coraline could do was place a hand on her Other's back and rub in a soothing tone. Coraline looked up to find Wybie, also looking as defenseless as she herself was; the Jones' daughter sighed before speaking. "Why don't you go home Wybie. I'll take care of her tonight." Wybie looked at her and nodded; if this was anyone else he would have been offended, but this was Coraline, and he trusted her. Cat jumped off of Wybie's lap so he could get up, the boy then looked at the two girls before waving lightly and exiting.

When she heard the front door close Coraline turned back to the currently unstable Cora. "Come on, you can stay here tonight," she said as she helped Cora up to her feet and led her upstairs. Cora sat upon the bed as Coraline looked for some extra pajamas for her to wear.

"Why...why did it have to be him…?"

Coraline bite her lip as Cora continued speaking, "the whole reason I left was to keep him safe…"

Coraline looked around at her after she heard that, wondering just how close her Other was to the Other Wybie; she continues to look for some nightwear as a way to keep her curious thoughts out of her head. Finally Coraline found a pair of blue pj's and then proceeded over to the bed to sit next to her look alike. "I bet he's glad you're ok Cora, knowing the Wybie's like I do-"

"It doesn't matter anymore Coraline."

The brown eyed girl's face turned sour at that; her sympathy was beginning to dry up. "S-so that's it, you're just giving up? If I knew this would happen I wouldn't have told you." Cora looked up at Coraline with surprised, red eyes, "I would have been worse if you hadn't told me Coraline," she said in a small mouse like voice. How is it that two girls who look so similar were so different in personality? "Yeah well, this is ridiculous Cora, you should be happy you made it out of there when you did."

Cora sighed as she removed the hair from her face, which was now getting the same sour look as her look alike. "Coraline its way more complicated than that," she simply stated in a huff as she stood up and walked towards the window that overlooked the front of the house. The Jones girl folded her arms, "so that's your excuse? I don't get you Cora, you leave that place to get away from the Beldam and now you're regretting it? Then what was the point of leaving in the first place? Because if that's the case then I'm glad they're all gone so they don't see you acting so pathetic!"

Oh, how she regretted that the moment it slipped past her lips.

She wasn't able to see Cora's reaction, but Coraline knew that it hurt her. Coraline brought her hands to her mouth; sometimes she hated herself for being so harsh and now she hurt her Other. She was about to say something but was cut of by Cora's soft spoken words.

"I can't live in any world knowing he's not going to be with me."

Coraline's widened as the words sunk in; could Other Coraline and Other Wybie have been closer than she thought? She wanted to contemplate it more but then she heard from down the hall her mother's voice.

"Coraline go to sleep!"

"…Y-Yeah mom, sorry!"

The scolded girl turned around to talk to her Other again only to find that said Other was gone; she only found the window wide open. Coraline ran over to it only to see a head of black hair dash into the trees. Wow, she made that jump? Other's must be strong.

"Cora…come back…"

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"Where are you going? Come on Cat!"

Wybie Lovat was awakened in the dead of night by Cat's paw tapping his nose multiple times. Wybie wanted to go back to sleep but he knew that Cat wouldn't have gotten him up for nothing; he must have had a reason. Despite his body screaming at him to go back to his warm bed, Wybie Lovat grabbed his boots and black coat and, very quietly as to not wake his grandma, snuck downstairs and into the trees outside. He wasn't sure where Cat was taking him, but after awhile of hearing weird sounds coming from all around him, he was beginning to regret following him in the first place.

Finally Cat came to a stop and looked up at Wybie with his wide blue eyes. Wybie arched an eyebrow in confusion as to why he was all the way out there. Cat nodded his head ahead of him to show Wybie why he was brought here. The Lovat boy had a squint to see what it was due to no light anywhere near this area. When Wybie eyes adjusted his breathe caught in his chest when he figured out what it was.

It was Coraline…no…it was Cora, just sitting there next to a tree curled up into herself.

"Cora?"

The girl looked up at Wybie with puffy red eyes, more than likely from the crying she was doing before he got there, but she stayed in her curled up position. Needless to say she placed on a weak smile for him, "hey there Wybie, what brings you out here?" Cat decided to curl up next to her, causing Cora to chuckled, "of course it was you." Wybie looked at her sadly as she petted Cat's head; she looked positively awful, he couldn't blame her, if he had lost Coraline, his best friend, he be miserable too.

Wybie decided to sit next to her, tensing up when the cold resonating from the ground hit him but he decided to 'grin and bare it' as it were. "You should go home and get some sleep Wybie, your grandmother would be upset if you got a cold," Cora said in a motherly tone. Wybie let out an uneasy laugh, "y-yeah, she probably would, but you know, you need to sleep too!" The blue-black haired girl chuckled lightly, "maybe, but I think I made Coraline mad, I should probably stay away for awhile, besides, Other's don't need to sleep as often as humans do."

"S-still-"

"Ah don't worry, I'll be just fine."

The Lovat boy sighed in defeat; she was just as stubborn as Coraline was. Wybie looked up at the sky, it was cloudy tonight, you could barely see the moon through them; it might rain tomorrow, great. Suddenly a shift of clothing could be heard before Wybie felt some weight on his shoulder; looking down he saw it was Cora resting up against him.

"C-Cora-"

"Please…"

Wybie blinked.

"I know you're not him…but please, just for a moment…"

Wybie looked at the sleepy girl on his shoulder before nodding; a sad smile came to his face. At that moment he remembered the doll he in is attic a few months ago that he gave to Coraline as a welcoming present. Sure it had a smile on its face, but its black button eyes held such sadness to them, like they had been carrying a burden with it all these years. To him, Cora was just like that doll, always wearing that same look on her face. Wybie looked down again to find his comrade had fallen asleep, Cat lying on her lap purring in content.

Maybe, just maybe, they could make that smile a real one.

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Wybie flinched as the sun shone through his window brightly and onto him…Wait…window? The Lovat boy jumped up, soaking in the area he found himself in.

He was back in his room.

Was last night a dream? Was Cora safe and sound asleep at Coraline's house? Wybie looked around for any sign of her ever being here. Upon his looking he found some dirt and leaves on the floor next to his bed.

Is it possible that Cora carried him back home?

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Later that day, after getting cleaned, dressed and grabbing a bite to eat, the Lovat boy set out for the Pink Palace. He had to find out if Cora was ok and if she was with her look alike or not. It only took him a few minutes on his bike to zoom up the hill to the Jones' apartment.

As soon as Wybie hopped off his bike, he found himself looking at Coraline coming out of the door and walking towards him; he could tell she didn't sleep very well so that meant Cora never came home last night. The young boy placed his helmet on his bike's seat before walking towards her. "Have you seen Cora?" Coraline asked frantically before she had reached him. Wybie nodded his head, "she was with me last night, but when I woke up she was gone."

"Did she tell you where she was going?"

"No."

"Ugh! This is all my fault; I should have kept my big mouth shut!"

"Just what did you say to her Jonesy?"

"It's all right Wybie."

The two of them jumped as the third voice came in; turning around they found that Cora was walking up to them, Cat following suite. Cora, in Wybie's opinion, looked much better today than she did the night before, more than likely from getting some sleep. Her hair was brushed, her clothes weren't in disarray, and she had a small smile on her face. The Other Coraline came to stop, placing her gloved hands in her pockets, "Coraline just put things into perspective for me."

"Cora, I didn-"

The Other put up a hand up to silence her 'twin', looking up at her with knowing eyes. Coraline was surprised at what she saw in those eyes, but she knew that look, it's the same one she would give others when she forgave them; the two of them couldn't help but smile while poor Wybie was standing there, trying to figure things out. Cora looked at Wybie once she and Coraline had finished their silent conversation, "everything is all right Wybie, nothing to worry about."

Wybie rubbed the back of his neck as he let her words soak in, "y-you sure, I mean, is everything ok?" Cora looked back at her look alike before answering the question, her face showing a bit of pain, "Not really, at least, not now," Cora looked down at her shoes, "it'll take me some time for things to get better, but I'm willing to try, I know my family would have wanted that."

Coraline and Wybie's faces broke out into a smile. Cora looked up at the two of them with a silly grin, "now lets not worry about it right now, I don't know about you, but I could go for an adventure." Wybie threw his arms into the air triumphantly, "yes! How about ant wars?!"

"Oh how do those work?"

"Ugh Cora don't encourage him!"

"Oh come now Coraline it could be fun."

"Yeah Jonesy don't be a stick in the mu-OW!"

*laughter*

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End of Chapter 3

Poor Cora and its only going to get worse. Wait for more guys! Please review!


	4. Never Say Goodbye to Me

Chapter Four

Never Say Goodbye to Me

Things slowly but surely got back to normal between Coraline, Wybie and Cora; it was hard, but they could see there had been progress. Wybie and Coraline did their best to keep Cora from thinking about the Other World and those who she held so dear; they did a good job but it was hard having their look alike's always around. Never the less, Cora appreciated it.

School was over for the year so the three of them were able to spend time with each other from sun up to sun down. They would do all types of things, from going to get ice cream in town to swimming in the lake. They were always being active; it normally left them drained at dinner time.

Cora adjusted well to this new lifestyle; she explained to Wybie and Coraline during one day of sunbathing that she had never really acted like a child when she came to this world due to the fact that she was always training; training for what she didn't explain but they knew instantly that would have to be remedied. Cora, if anything, had the most fun out of all of them, especially when they spent time in the garden; she even helped plant the morning glories and sunflowers, which were her suggestion. The Other Coraline would sometimes even help Wybie with working on his bike, and by helping I mean she handed him the tools he needed when he asked for them.

Coraline soon learned that though this place was very cold, their summers were really hot. Wybie had to put his black coat away and was often seen wearing a white T-shirt and jeans with tennis shoes. Coraline went from turtlenecks to her orange stripped t-shirt and jeans overall's, she switched from tennis shoes to flips flops regularly. Cora would normally wear her orange elbow length shirt, black jumper and orange leggings; apparently it was one of her favorite outfits. However, should they ever want new clothes, Cora would just make them from her. That's right, Cora could sew, something she learned in the Other World; according to her, it was the one thing she was proud to have learned there.

After learning that her Other was living in the woods all this time, Coraline became concerned about Cora's well being, so she demanded that she live at the Pink Palace. Of course her Other thought it would be too much of a hassle, but Coraline wouldn't take no for an answer; naturally Coraline got her way. Coraline set up a small bed for Cora up in their little section of the attic given to them as apart of their apartment. Cora, despite what others would think, liked it up there, it was cozy and she had privacy. What was so great about it was that it was directly above Coraline's room, so it was easy for the Other to enter and exit the house without being detected by Mr. and Mrs. Jones.

So all and all things were going ok for all of them; a great summer they all said, at least they hoped so. However there were some issues, at least for Cora, there was that looming shadow that haunted her where ever she went. She tried to forget it all but she just couldn't. At first it was her drive, knowing that Other Wybie and her friends would be there waiting for her got her through the past 150 years but now…now they were gone.

Oh how she wanted to go back and take her revenge upon her mother, the Beldam. She thought about it often, so sweet to just end that monsters life for taking those precious away from her. She wanted to take revenge for those she didn't know too, those three children who lost their lives at her mother's hands; she could never forgive herself for letting that happen. Revenge sounded better each and every day, but in the end she knew she couldn't do it. First of all she wasn't anywhere near being strong enough to defeat the Beldam; she would need more training to do so. Secondly, Coraline and Wybie would never let her go back there; they'd fight her tooth and nail. And finally, she knew if she took revenge, she would be no better than her mother and that's not what Other Wybie would have wanted her to become; that was the final nail in the coffin.

That didn't stop her from thinking about them though, in fact, if anything she thought about them more then ever, despite the way she acted around Wybie and Coraline; the last thing she needed was for them to worry about her. It's true that she wasn't able to do all of the fun things she wanted to do what with her mother always demanding her attention, but that just meant she could treasure the things she **did** do with them. Like the time Miss Spink taught her to knit or when Mr. Bobinski let her see a sneak peek of his mouse circus. Then there was Wybie, oh he brought a smile to her face. All those times he snuck her out of the house and took her out into the forest, catching fireflies or hunting banana slugs; it was a never ending game for the two of them. She would give anything to have those days back.

She never wanted him to say goodbye.

"Cora?"

The dreaming girl looked up to find herself staring at her 'twin' Coraline. Guessing by the look on her face, Coraline had been trying to grab her attention for awhile but as usual, Cora was lost in her thoughts. "Oh, heh, sorry Coraline, what's up?" Cora asked with an uneasy smile on her face, rubbing the back of her neck with her hand; Wybie was beginning to rub off on her. Coraline's face became sour, "I have been trying to talk to you for the last three minutes! What have you been thinking about?" though she asked, Coraline had a good idea of what was running through her Other's mind.

"Oh heh, you know, this and that-"

"You were thinking about him again weren't you?"

"…heh, you know me better than me."

"Well, I am your 'twin'," Coraline chuckled as she sat down on the rock that Cora was sitting on, "…I'm not doing a good job am I?" Cora shook her head frantically when she realized what her look alike was talking about. "No, no! You and Wybie are doing a great job really, it's just…you know, hard." Coraline nodded, placing a comforting hand on Cora's shoulder. "I know it's hard, but things will get better I promise." Cora nodded; she didn't feel like things were going to get better, but she had to hope. "You two were really close huh?" Cora nodded again, turning her head to look at her look alike; a small smile came to her face. "Wybie was the only one who wasn't scared of Beldam, not like the others, heh, he was always coming up with ways for us to spend time together without her ever knowing, at least for awhile." Coraline listened quietly as her Other talked about the Other Wybie; she was beginning to see there was no real difference between Wybie and his Other, they were so more alike than she thought. Finally Coraline piped up.

"I do have a question for you, since we're on the subject of Other Wybie, it's been kinda bugging me."

Cora blinked, "oh? What is it?"

"If Other Wybie couldn't talk, how did you two communicate?"

"…what are you talking about?"

"What?"

"Other Wybie has always been able…to talk…"

There was a long pause before the sound of rustling grass could be heard.

"CORA NO!"

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End of Chapter 4

I told you it was only going to get worse for poor Cora.

Sorry for the short chapter, next chapter will be much longer. Please review! I love hearing what you guys think.


	5. The Way

Chapter 5

The Way

"CORA NO! YOU CAN'T!"

"LET ME GO CORALINE! LET. ME. GO!"

That's what Wybie heard upon entering the Jones' apartment at the Pink Palace. He heard loud muffled noises when he pulled up, and being curious, he let himself in, only to have his ear drums nearly blown off from the screaming voices that, he guessed, belonged to his two best friends. The Lovat boy ran towards where the voices were coming: the family room. What he saw there made his jaw drop.

Cora was trying to open the door to the Other World!

The only reason she wasn't actually doing it was because Coraline was trying to pull her away from it by the waist. Wybie was surprised to find that, despite Coraline's strength, she was losing her grip on her Other. Other's have to be stronger; at least he guessed from looking at the two of them. Somewhere amongst the struggle Coraline caught Wybie out of the corner of her eyes at gave him an incredulous look.

"WYBIE HELP ME!"

In no time at all, all three of them were in a wrestling match, one of which the humans were losing; Other's must be **way** stronger than their look alike's. After what felt like forever, they were able to pull Cora away from the door, all of them falling down to the floor, Coraline on top of Wybie, Cora in a crumpled state. Coraline let out a loud 'ugh' as she scrambled off of Wybie's lap, unaware of her surroundings. In the meantime, Cat had decided to come into the room, slowly making his way to Cora, pawing at her arm.

Wybie huffed, "what in the world is going on here?! Why is Cora trying to open the door?"

Coraline couldn't answer at the moment for she was trying to catch her breathe, starting to point and gesture like she was going to, but she never had enough oxygen. Due to the fact that he couldn't get an answer, Wybie decided to look over at Cora, only to find her curled up in a ball now; he even heard small sobs tearing from her throat, despite Cat's attempts to soothe her.

"I didn't know…"

Wybie looked over to find Coraline talking to him.

"I-I didn't know the Other Wybie could talk…when I said he didn't when I met him…"

Wybie put the final piece together, "Cora was crazy."

Coraline nodded, "she just kept begging me to let her go but I couldn't do it, not with the Beldam on the other side."

"It's not fair…"

Coraline and Wybie looked over at their fallen comrade, who was now muttering sentences in a broken, ragged tone. "Why…why did she take his voice…wasn't it enough she took him from me…what have I done?...monster….horrible…I couldn't…" When her words began to get incoherent, Cat let out a low whine, nudging her head with his. It seemed to do the trick for the sad Other lifted her head, her cheeks stained with tears, to look up at her feline friend. Cat then laid down next to Cora, cuddling up next to her, who then wrapped her arm around him, continuing to cry.

Coraline watched the poor girl, unsure of what to do; she felt like an idiot not keeping her mouth shut. She knew Other Wybie was a touchy subject but no! She just had to go and cause more problems. Why her friends stayed with her sometimes boggled her mind.

Then the most amazing thing happened. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Wybie move; she looked up to see that he was walking the short distance before coming to his once button eye wearing friend. The Lovat boy proceeded to lie down next to Cora and Cat, taking the hand that was on the feline into his and rubbing it soothingly. Coraline was astounded at how…endearing Wybie was in that moment; to be honest so was Cora, though she didn't say anything. After awhile of feeling left out, Coraline crawled over to her 3 friends, lying there so that she was head to head with her Other, taking the girl's other hand and doing the same thing that Wybie did.

For the longest time, they just laid there.

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It wasn't until around 7 o'clock that the kids and their cat got up; well, really it was three of them, not four. Coraline realized that they had all fallen asleep there on the family room floor and the only reason she woke up was due to the loud booming sound from her mother's grandfather clock. Promptly after that Coraline woke up Wybie, along with Cat; she couldn't bring herself to wake up Cora.

Wybie and Coraline crept into the kitchen, only to find a note from her mother that she and Mr. Jones were out to the theatre with Miss Spink and Miss Forcible; Coraline's dad had put their dinner in the fridge. Despite them finding the food to look unappetizing, they heated it up and managed to keep it down.

"Should we wake her?"

Wybie looked up at Coraline's question, "she needs to eat, but let's let her sleep a couple minutes longer, she needs it."

Coraline nodded, "yeah, I'm so dumb I-"

"Come on Jonesy you didn't know, none of us did, it's not like Cora told us what really happened over there."

Now that she thought about it, Cora never had told them the whole story, I mean yeah she told them that she ran away from her mother, but she never explained why she left. Or how her relationship with Other Wybie and the others was like; she was always vague about her past but Coraline always figured she had her reasons. Despite that, the blue-black haired girl was curious.

The two of them ate in comfortable silence; something that never happened before. They both had a lot of their minds, plus they had to concentrate on trying to enjoy Mr. Jones cooking. Needless to say Coraline really enjoyed it; every so often they'd catch each others eyes and smile before going back to their food. It was a change of pace with Wybie; this was a side of him she never saw…it was nice.

"Mrrow!"

The Lovat boy and Jones girl jumped when they heard the loud hiss come from down the hall; they knew it was Cat trying to grab their attention. The two of them instantly jumped up and made there way towards the living. Why? Oh why can't things just be calm for awhile?! Wybie and Coraline stopped the moment they were at the door frame, letting out two gasps.

The door to the Other World was open, and Cora was gone.

"What the-"

"She got through?"

Cat nodded lightly at the two of them to confirm their suspicions. The two humans looked at each other with wide eyes before looking back at their feline comrade. Cat seemed rather calm about the whole situation; then again he was normally calm as long as it didn't directly affect him in any way.

"We have to go get her."

Wybie looked at Coraline like she had three heads, "g-go? In there? With the creepy…Bed Bug Lady! Whatever her name is?!" Coraline rolled her eyes in frustration, "it's Beldam, and yes we're going there, we can't just leave her there!"

"I-I know that! It's just…isn't there something we can take to fight her with?"

"As good of an idea that is, we don't have anything like that, all we have is our wits."

There was silence for a brief moment, more then likely they were gathering said wits before they embarked into the darkness. The two of them gave each other one more brief look, though to them it seemed like forever, before they made their way into the small hallway.

"I wouldn't follow her if I were you."

Coraline and Wybie looked to their side to find Cat walking besides them. Wybie's face was completely shocked; he knew Coraline said Cat could talk, but actually hearing him speak…wow!

"Why do you say that? Beldam will kill her!"

"Perhaps, but maybe that's what she wants."

"Cora? No, that's not right, she would never-"

"If anything, she would want revenge, after all, her mother did take it all."

"It all?"

"Of course, what you don't know her story?"

"Do you?"

Wybie's question made a smug, proud look come to Cat's face, "of course, you'd be surprised how long I've been playing my game with the Beldam." The two human children continued looking at Cat as they crawled, almost as if they were waiting for something else.

"Hm…perhaps it would be best to show you rather then tell you."

Everything went white.

Coraline and Wybie gasped at the white environment as they floated in nothing. Cat seemed, as usual, very calm, almost like he was waiting. Well what he was waiting for came, for with a big WHOOSH, color began to fill the spaces along with furniture and walls and floors; in the end they found themselves in what looked like her family room or rather, the Beldam's family room.

"Wha-what is this? Is this the family room of Other Mother?"

"Yes…and no, rather this is a memory,"

"A memory? You mean…we're in the past?"

Before Cat spoke up again they were interrupted by the sound of someone opening the door. All three of them went silent as a young girl walked in, one that looked just like-

"Coraline?"

The girl turned and looked up, with big black button eyes.

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End of Chapter 5

I know, it's another short chapter but I promise the next one will be longer. I love the scene I wrote where all of them lie on the floor comforting Cora, I should draw it. By the way guys my drawings are up here: .com/art/Coraline-Doodles-114235714

Much more to come. Stick around to see into Cora's past.


	6. To My Lovely

Chapter 6

To my Lovely

Other Coraline looked up over towards the door when her mother, the Beldam, called for her. She could feel her body begin to shiver, and it wasn't because of the air conditioning. "Y-yes mother?" she called back, not even daring to walk out into the hall for fear of her mother being there.

"Are you planning to garden today? If you are then bring in the laundry!"

Coraline sighed in relief after hearing that. She was afraid she was going to get hit again, or even pinched. The button eyed girl subconsciously rubbed her sore arm; her mother had pinched her rather hard this morning for having breakfast too early, it drew blood and the area was bruised, lucky for her her shirt covered it up. Coraline quickly made her way to the door, grabbing the laundry basket along the way before heading towards her sanctuary.

"Yes ma'am!"

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"Well well my dear Wyvie how are you enjoying your new home?"

The brown haired button eyed boy rubbed the back of his head before chuckling lightly, "it's Wy-bie, and yes I am, thank you for asking Miss Spink." The two actresses nodded as they happily sipped their tea. The whole town had heard of their new arrivals, the Lovat's; nothing truly exciting happened around there, so new people was like a day at the carnival for them. Miss Spink and Miss Forcible happened upon the Lovat boy while they were shopping; he was nice enough to help them with their groceries, so they invited him for tea.

"Care for a piece of toffee dear?"

Wybie shook his head, "n-no thank you, I'm all right." The Other Lovat looked around at the…uniquely furnished room and the dogs that wandered among the room. He was always told by his grandmother to help those in need, that's why he helped the two actresses, and he was always told to be polite, that's why he was here; but …he was beginning to regret it. These women were crazy!

"Well, its best that I start leaving, Grandma will get worried."

"But of course, right this way dear."

The Lovat boy followed the two women out of their apartment and up the stairs, being bombarded with 'thank you' and 'come again soon'. Wybie nodded and smile lightly with every comment made; he was losing his patience. Finally, when they were out of things to say, Wybie said his final good bye and turned around in order to head home.

That's when he saw her.

She was coming out of the apartment above the actresses, holding an empty laundry basket. This girl was, without a doubt, the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Tall, willowy figure, pale skin with freckles dancing along her skin, short hair that color of the midnight sky, and the prettiest black button eyes he had ever seen. Wybie stood there as stiff as a board as this girl walked down the stairs of the porch and walk to the other side of the apartment.

"…Who was that?"

"Hm…oh…that's…oh what's her name…?"

Miss Forcible hummed at Miss Spink's question, "it…began with a C…"

"Yes! It was um-Carol!"

"No, no, it was Carrie!"

"Car-Car…Caroline!"

"Yes, yes, I'm certain her name is Caroline!"

Wybie raised an eyebrow; ok, it was definitely not a good idea to trust these women. The boy sighed before placing a look of determination on his face.

He'd just have to find out on his own.

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Coraline wiped her brow with her gloved hand before going back to her digging. She had a garden; it was the one thing that was her own and she was grateful. The button eyed girl continued with her work for a few good hours, planting in the tulips she bought a couple of days ago; she knew they would look lovely in her growing garden.

Every so often Coraline would look over her shoulder. She had the strangest feeling that she was being watched. Her mother would always do that, but at least she could see her; whatever she felt she couldn't see. Needless to say she shrugged it off after awhile so she could get her work done.

After doing her garden work for the day, she made her way over to the wash line to get the now dry laundry. She hummed a small tune as she began to fold the laundry and place it in the bin. Once she reached the end of the line, when she removed her bed sheet, she jumped out of surprise at what, or rather who, was standing there.

Coraline stood there looking at a boy that was her age. He was dark skinned, his face was round, he had dark brown wild hair and he had the goofiest looking ears. His posture was, to say the least, poor, he was more than likely tall if he didn't slouch, but right now he was her height. He was dawned in a black trench coat, gloves, jeans, and sneakers. Needless to say he was…interesting to look at; it made her feel different, something she hadn't felt before.

The boy looked at her with big black button eyes and waved, "hi there."

Coraline jumped at his warm, welcoming voice and that caused her to forget that unique feeling to replace it with something very familiar: fear. This boy obviously wanted to get to know her and that was never good. The blue-black haired girl quickly placed the sheets into the basket, picked it up and made her way back towards her house.

"Hey, wait a second."

Coraline picked up her pace.

"Hey, hang on!"

Coraline was now running.

She could tell the boy was trying to catch up to her, but luckily she had a head start. Coraline soon found herself on the porch and past the door, closing it but not completely. The boy came up the porch and looked at her as she looked at him through the crack in the door. The button eyed girl was beginning to regret thinking about closing the door, especially as she looked at him. Feeling a little brave, she began to open the door.

"Coraline?"

The girl gasped and closed the door.

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"Hi there!"

Coraline jumped as the boy from yesterday popped up in front of her. She was just minding her business leaning up against the railing on the front porch and out of no where he's standing on the opposite side of it. Coraline's face was blank for a second from the shock, but then it scrunched up in irritation.

"What do you want?"

The boy's face continued to smile, bowing in a gentlemen fashion, "name's Wybourne Lovat, a pleasure to meet you."

"…Wybourne?"

"Heh, well, I go by Wybie for short, you can call me that if you want."

Coraline 'hmphed' before walking away and down the porch, doing her best to ignore him, even though he continued talking to her. "So what's your name?" he asked. Coraline turned around with an incredulous look on her face, "you've been following me for two days and you don't even know my name?" Wybie rubbed the back of his neck, "well I have an idea, but I'd like to hear it from you." Coraline soon turned around and continued to walk away from him. Wybie though was determined to get her name, no matter what.

"Why do you want to know anyway?"

"I'm curious about you."

Coraline scoffed, "You're curious about me? Well I can promise you there's nothing interesting about me."

"Oh I'd beg to differ."

The Beldam's daughter paused for a second as she let his words soaked in; he was curious about her? What could he see that she couldn't? She didn't linger on the subject long before she continued to reject the Lovat boy. Coraline did her best for a good while to get the boy away from her, but she had no luck. Finally she figured talking was getting her no where so she decided just slamming the door on him would be best. Coraline made her way back up to the porch.

"Look, you're wasting your time, you-"

"Please."

Coraline looked around to find the boy kneeling on the porch railing, one hand wrapped around the column; she felt her breathe catch in her chest as she stared up at him. "Please give me a name, that's all I ask," he said in a gentle, almost pleading voice. The girl stared up into his black button eyes, not seeing any hint of malice and evil intention in them; that was definitely something she wasn't used to seeing in others. Finally, Coraline sighed in defeat, "if I tell you my name, will you leave me alone?" Wybie nodded with a big, triumphant smile on his face.

"…it's Coraline."

Wybie's face grew into a smirk, "Not Caroline?"

"No! It's Coraline!" she hated when people messed up her name.

Wybie laughed at her angry face, "well all right then, Coraline, it was nice to meet you," and with that he jumped off the porch. Coraline gasped, there were bushes down there and that would hurt when he hit them. She looked over the porch to find no one there, only the sound of a loud motor moving away. Coraline raised an eyebrow, thinking how odd the boy was, but, at the same time…

"Wybie Lovat…hm…"

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"Do you like your dinner dear?"

Coraline looked up at her mother. It was dinner time and they were having chicken, peas, and mashed potatoes; as usual it was perfectly cooked, but she had to admit, having things always perfect was tending to be a drag. Seriously having things changed around a bit would be a nice change of pace, but she would never suggest that to the Beldam; her mother always wanted it perfect. Coraline nodded as she used her fork to make her peas move on her plate, "yes, its very good, thank you."

Beldam beamed at the response, "splendid, now don't eat too much because I made ice cream and…" her mother continued rambling on but Coraline wasn't listening. The button eyed girl was thinking about that boy Wybie Lovat. Even though he was very annoying, he was also very…nice. There was something about him that almost attracted Coraline to him, something that made her want to know him more.

Coraline scoffed lightly; that would never happen. You see, her mother was very protective; Beldam didn't like her spending time with anyone else other than her. The Beldam believed that everyone else wasn't good enough to be her friend, that she was the only one who understood Coraline.

She got away with it too. It is a well known fact that the Beldam was in control of the town, a mayor of sorts; not that anyone had any say in it. Her mother was a superior being, and superior beings had the power; 'survival of the fittest' Beldam always said to her daughter.

Coraline stabbed the last pea on her plate with her fork, leering at it like it was her mother. It was wrong that Coraline thought that, but after living with this woman so long, dealing with her _methods,_ you'd have dark thoughts too. Coraline coughed lightly into her hand; don't know where that came from was all she could think. She coughed again, man, this was unusual; that's when she felt something wet on her hand and being curious she looked down. Her eyes widen in fear.

There was blood on her hand.

The button eyed girl arched her back as her coughing became more violent; she could feel the fluid building up in her lungs. Coraline attempted to get up but it only resulted in her falling on the ground. Amongst the coughing, she saw her mother's shadow coming towards her. The Beldam stopped in front of her and bent over.

"You really should pay attention to your mother when she's talking to you."

Of course, that's the reason her mother used her power to puncture her lungs; isn't she so sweet? Coraline could feel herself losing consciousness, nodding violently towards her mother to let her know she was sorry. After a few more coughs, her mother stood up straight, waving her hand. The blue-black haired girl's coughing began to lessen, feeling the fluid disappear and she was back to normal. Beldam walked out of the kitchen while Coraline tried to catch her breathe.

Coraline looked at her mother's disappearing figure with disdain. Now she remembered why she wanted to keep away from the Lovat boy. If her mother did this to her for not paying attention, what would she do to him if she found out he was taking her daughters attention away from her?

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"Hey there Coraline!"

The girl in question let out a low groan at the familiar voice that came from behind; when she turned around her suspicions were confirmed.

"I thought we agreed you'd leave me alone."

Wybie's smile stayed on his face as he sat down next to Coraline, who was currently working on her garden. "We did, but we didn't say for how long!" Coraline groaned again, letting her head fall in defeat; she should have known better than not to be specific. "So…I was wondering if you wanted to go down into town with me? They have this awesome-"

"Would you just leave me alone?!"

Wybie watched curiously as Coraline bolted up and took a few steps away from him. "Why can't you get it that I just want to be left alone?! Are you that stupid?!" Wybie got up at that moment and the girl noticed his smile was wavering. "Well, heh, I know that I came on a little strong but-"

"Ugh! Don't you get it? I cannot have you hanging around me! We can't spend time together! We can't be 'buddies', so would you just go away!" she shoved him.

Wybie fell hard to the ground after that, letting out a sharp grunt when his shoulder hit a rock, leaving a nice cut there. The Lovat boy gripped his shoulder as he looked up at Coraline with wide, pained black button eyes. The girl gasped at seeing the damaged she caused, but she knew she had to remain firm. Giving him an apologetic look she ran back into her house and slammed the door.

"Coraline why did you slam the door?"

Her mother's sing song tone made Coraline freeze. "Oh, um, there was a bee following me, I didn't want it to get into the house."

It was silent for a few seconds before her mother spoke again, "all right, get cleaned up for lunch."

When she heard her mother in the kitchen, she slide down to the floor and curled up.

She hated herself at the moment.

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"Thank you again for helping us with the groceries young man."

"Yes, very kind you."

Wybie smiled uneasily as he helped Miss Spink and Miss Forcible with their groceries once again. Along with them this time was their other neighbor, Mr. Bobinski, a very tall blue man that reeked of beats and cheese. While the three of them talked amongst each other, Wybie struggled to carry all their groceries.

"So dear boy, vhat do you think of our little town?" Mr. Bobinski asked.

Wybie shrugged, "its all right, things seem to be nice and in order and what not."

"Well you have the Beldam to thank for that…I suppose," Miss Spink said with an uncertain voice.

The Lovat boy quickly noticed that everyone went tense, "the Bel-what?"

"The Beldam, she rules over this land, she is our…leader…"

"How come I've never met her?"

"Oh you will at one time or another…hopefully another…" Miss Forcible whispered the last part in Miss Spink's ear.

"Unfortunately it's now."

Everyone looked up and stood in silence as the Beldam entered the market square, a big grin on her face as she sauntered around picking out the food she wanted. No one disobeyed her orders and everyone was nice to her when she spoke to them; Wybie could tell just by looking at her that she abused her right to power.

"Come along darling, keep up."

Seeing Coraline following Beldam made Wybie's jaw drop. Why was she following after this woman? Was she forced into it? That could only be the plausible reason. He watched her as she attempted to keep up with the Beldam, which was hard because of her small strides in comparison to the older woman.

The Beldam stopped in front of an apple cart, looking around for something that she clearly couldn't find. She looked up at the apple seller, "where are your red apples? I only see green here." The man cowered as he looked at the Beldam, "I-I'm sorry miss, we're out of the red apples." Beldam's sickly sweet face became twisted; everyone became even more fearful than before, letting out a set of gasps.

"No…red…apples? HOW DARE YOU YOU LITTLE-"

"Mother please! Don't-"

SMACK

The whole crowd watched in horror as Coraline fell onto the cobbled street, clutching her red and bloodied cheek as she looked up at her mother in fear. Wybie felt his blood boil. "HEY!" he snapped, making his way over to the gangly woman if not for the two actresses and the mouse trainer grabbing him and hiding him behind their backs.

"WHO SAID THAT?!"

No one answered, they just stood.

The Beldam merely stared at them all with disinterest before turning around. "I believe we are done here, come Coraline," her daughter scrambled getting up, collecting everything from her basket that dropped. Once she stood and she found herself looking at the Lovat boy, her eyes wide with shame at knowing he saw that. Coraline sighed in defeat before running after her mother.

Mr. Bobinski sighed, "poor, poor Caroline."

"To be the Beldam's mother…"

Wybie looked at all of them with wide button eyes, "mother? That _thing_ is her mother?!"

Miss Spink nodded, "I'm afraid so dearie, Caroline is the Beldam's daughter."

"Yes and a savior to us all!"

Wybie tilted his head, "savior? Why do you say that Miss Forcible?"

"Well you saw what just happened dear Wyvie, she takes on her mother's wrath to protect us all!"

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Coraline rubbed her sore cheek for the millionth time today; it really stung. Her mother bandaged up the cut she had caused, but she constantly tapped it all day to remind her daughter that she had been bad. After about the 5th time of being smacked, she decided to go out and work on her garden, which really meant she was hiding from her mother. So that's how she wound up outside, curled up into a ball, with tears threatening to fall from her button eyes. She was so deep in her thoughts, she was unaware that somebody was kneeling in front of her; when she finally noticed she gasped at who she saw.

It was Wybie Lovat.

Wybie looked so upset when he looked at her. Poor Coraline, she looked like a broken and abused doll. He couldn't explain it, but all he wanted to do was wrap his arms around her and hold her close so he could make everything better. Instead he gently placed his gloved hand on her cut cheek.

"Are you all right?"

Coraline flinched when his hand reached out and was completely surprised at how gentle he was. The blue-black haired girl couldn't help but lean into his touch, his glove was so cold it felt so good against her sore face; she probably would have stayed there if not for remembering she was trying to keep him away from her. Coraline leaned back and looked at him with an accusing face, "what are you doing here?"

Wybie shrugged, "well, I wanted to make sure you were all right." Coraline's stern face stayed as she brushed her hair out of her face. "Well I'm fine, so you can go," Wybie groaned in frustration; this was getting old. "Look, Coraline I know why you're doing this but it's ok, I'm not scared!" Coraline leaned back farther, "what are you talking about?" she asked in a small voice.

"Come on! I know you're letting you mom treat you like a hackie sack so that she doesn't hurt anyone," he stopped for a second when he saw the girl flinch and then spoke in a more tender tone, "that's why you didn't want me hanging around you, isn't it?"

Coraline got her courage back, leaning towards him, "she will kill you! Don't you get that? She will not be merciful, she will tear you apart! That's why you can't be near me! She doesn't like me spending time with anyone else! You should be scared!"

"…but I'm not."

Coraline sighed painfully as she rubbed her forehead, "what do you want from me Wybie? Why do you want to be with me?"

"Because I think you're the most amazing girl I've ever met."

Now that caught Coraline off guard, looking up at him with shocked eyes; once again she didn't see any evil intention in them and that made her laugh lightly and shake her head. "I just don't get you," that made Wybie tilt his head in confusion. "Why do you say that?" Coraline laughed again, "I have looked into so many eyes in this town and they all have some sort of agenda in them, Miss Spink and Miss Forcible only want to act, Mr. Bobinski and his mouse circus but you…there's nothing, you're just…sweet…"

Wybie chuckled at the comment, despite his flushed cheeks, "well what can I say, I'm a pretty awesome guy!" That made Coraline laugh, covering her mouth lightly with her hand; Wybie beamed, in his eyes she was so pretty when she smiled.

"Coraline! Time for bed!"

Coraline's smiling face disappeared when hearing her mother's voice, knowing it was time for her to go inside. Both her and the Lovat boy got up at the same time, "thank you…for coming to check on me," she said with a blushing face before she made her way towards her house. What she didn't expect was to feel a gloved hand grab hers, causing her to look at Wybie, who had a sweet smile on his face.

"Can I see you tomorrow?"

Coraline was silent for a few seconds. She knew she shouldn't, that she should stay as far away from Wybie Lovat as possible; it would only end badly. But there was something about him that just intrigued her, maybe it was the same thing he saw in her, she wasn't sure, but she wanted to find out.

Coraline smiled lightly and nodded.

After Wybie left, Coraline made her way into the house, cleaned up and went to bed with a smile on her face.

She couldn't wait until tomorrow.

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"Well, what do you think?"

Coraline raised an eyebrow as she looked at Wybie's bike; at least, she thought it was a bike. "So…this is your bike?" Coraline asked, only to receive Wybie rolling his eyes as a response. "Not just any bike, it's a motor bike, I modified it so that it goes faster!" Coraline nodded, still looking at it; it looked so rusty, there's no way it could be safe!

"So you ready to go?"

The buttoned eyed girl gulped but nodded none the less; she had agreed to this, and she was no chicken. Wybie put on this really creepy welding mask designed as a skull and three green eyes while she wore an orange bike helmet he found lying around. He helped her, like a gentleman, onto the bike before hopping on; Coraline wrapped her arms around his waist and then they were off.

What Wybie said was true, the bike did go faster, but not so fast that she couldn't see what was going on around her. She watched in wonder as Wybie drove her everywhere, the places she had never been; it was all so…beautiful, she lived in this town and never knew anything about it until now. Coraline continued looking around until something really caught her eye so she tugged on Wybie's sleeve.

"Wait Wybie stop!"

Wybie came to an immediate halt, causing the both of them lurch forward, "what? What is it?"

"What's that?"

"Oh that? That's a swing."

Coraline looked at the two ropes with its wooden seat curiously, "a swing huh, what does it do?" Wybie lifted up his welding mask and looked her with big button eyes, "wait, you've never seen a swing before?" Coraline shook her head, "oh…well, um, you sit on it and, you know, swing."

"What does that accomplish?"

"Well it's for fun, when you swing far enough, it looks like your flying."

Coraline tilted her head in confusion, causing Wybie to sigh, "it's just something you'll have to experience one day I guess."

The Beldam's daughter nodded before they set off again. Coraline looked at the swing until it disappeared from her sight.

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"Yuck! Don't tell me you had their taffy?"

Wybie laughed, "nah, I got the heck out of there when they offered."

Coraline laughed out loud. Coraline and Wybie were lying around in a random field of wildflowers just chatting their time away; currently they were talking about Miss Spink and Miss Forcible. "And all those dogs? What's up with that?" Coraline snickered, "beats me." They continued laughing and making jokes for another hour before they were exhausted from lack of oxygen.

"Now your just trying to kill me Cora, this was too much," he chuckled. Coraline sat up and looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "what did you call me?" Wybie looked up at her, resting on one elbow, "um…I called you Cora…" Coraline blinked at him for a second before a small smile came to her face, "I like it."

Wybie grinned, "well then Cora, what should we do next?"

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"What did she do to you?!"

Coraline smiled weakly at her angry friend. She was late and she was not in good shape. Wybie took hold of her wrist to examine her arm that had nasty red gashes running from her shoulder to slightly above her wrist. Coraline flinched as he pulled her sleeve up to look at the whole thing.

"W-well, Beldam found out that I didn't go to the town yesterday and when I didn't tell her where I was, she did this."

Wybie's face went sour. For weeks he found some sort of injury on Cora's body and they were given to her for no good reason; ever since her mother slapped her across the face, he felt his patience thinning and this was the last straw. Wybie stomped his way towards Cora's apartment and would have gotten to the door if not for Cora stepping in front of him and putting her hands on his chest to keep him there.

"Wybie please, don't."

"Why shouldn't I? Cora don't stand up for her when she's torturing you like this!"

"I'm not, I promise you that's not the reason, I just don't want you getting hurt! So please, just let it go."

The Lovat boy sighed in frustration. He wanted nothing more than to beat the snot out of the Beldam, but at the same time, he hated seeing Cora so sad; needless to say he decided to do what Cora requested. Said girl sighed in relief as she rested her head on Wybie's chest. This caught the Lovat boy off guard but that didn't mean he didn't like it; he proved this by wrapping his arms around her little frame.

Cora sighed in content; Wybie was so warm and comfortable and she wanted nothing more than just to lose herself in this feeling. Over the course of these past few months getting to know Wybie, she found herself constantly drawn to him, it didn't matter; she couldn't even stay mad at him! And that weird feeling she was always getting, it was all so confusing but at the same time wonderful. These days she just didn't know what to do with herself.

Though she couldn't see it, Wybie had a big smile on his face; he was content having Cora so close to him, his head resting on hers. The Lovat boy wanted nothing more than to just stay like this, burying his face in her sweet smelling hair and keeping her safe from the world around her. He had drawn that conclusion from the very moment he met her and he intended to keep it till he stopped breathing.

Cora shifted a bit in his arms, nudging his head which he took to be a way to get his attention. The boy looked down at the girl in his arms, the both of them locking eyes on each other; no words were spoken. Wybie gulped lightly, he couldn't help himself, he began to lean in towards her and surprisingly, Cora was doing the same. They were only a breathe away from having their lips touch, so very, very close-

"Coraline!"

The both of them jumped away from each other at the familiar voice calling out for the button eyed girl.

"Time for your lessons! Get in here now!"

Cora and Wybie sighed in relief, but inside they were sighing in defeat. The two of them looked at each other with flushed cheeks. Wybie leaned in a bit to say something until the Beldam's voice pierced the moment again, "CORALINE!"

"…I-I'll come out later all right? I forgot about my magic lessons."

"Y-yeah t-that's fine, but don't let her push you around!"

Cora nodded, "I'll try…so, bye."

"Bye."

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"Will you be sad?"

Cora looked up from her cereal, "sad?"

"About me leaving for the weekend darling? It is April."

"Oh…Oh! Oh yes, your yearly meeting! Is that this weekend? …all the fun we've been having made the time fly!"

The Beldam's frowning face beamed at her daughter's response. "Well it'll only be for a few days dear and then the fun will continue!" Cora put on her best fake smile for her mother.

This weekend would be her sanctuary.

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Wybie raised an eyebrow, "yearly meeting?"

Cora nodded, "ever since I was little mother has had to go to this yearly meeting every April, she leaves Thursday night and comes back really late of Sunday, what the meeting's about I have no idea."

Wybie 'ah'ed in response, leaning back into the grass of their favorite field. Cora stayed in a sitting position with a big smile on her face, "this'll be great, a whole weekend with no mother! We can do whatever we want!" Wybie chuckled, "don't we do that anyway?"

"Yes but we won't be sneaking around!" Cora threw her hands in the air, throwing her back to lie on Wybie's chest. Ever since that time they had almost kissed on Cora's front porch, the two of them had been more close to one another; the complete opposite of what you think. That didn't mean they were together romantically, just…close.

Wybie ran his gloved fingers threw her blue-black hair, "so what do you want to do?" Cora closed her eyes as she enjoyed his fingers in her hair, "hm, dunno, anything but being stuck at home." Wybie nodded, the both of them laid there in silence, enjoying the sound of the wind in the trees, the birds chirping and most importantly, each other's company. Just on the brink of falling asleep, Cora felt Wybie jump underneath her.

"I-I have an idea," he stuttered out; Cora sat up and rubbed her button eye as she looked down at him. "Really? What?" Wybie's worried face looked up towards hers and suddenly, his confidence came through; he grinned and got up really quickly. Cora watched in confusion as he offered out his hand.

"Miss Coraline, may I have the honor of having a 3 day date with you?"

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Cora gulped as she looked at herself in the mirror for the millionth time, fiddling with her midnight white starred turtleneck. She hoped this would be all right to wear and that she didn't look like a complete spazz when Wybie showed up for their date.

Goodness only knows why she said yes, then again she didn't want to say no either; she blamed that weird feeling for this. She brushed her hair back and put in her dragonfly clip, did it look dorky? Heck if she knew.

There was a knock on the door.

Cora squeaked when she heard that sound, groaning at herself for being so silly; she was acting like a scared little mouse! Cora attempted to gather her wits as she made her way to the door but, hey, all she had was a hallway to use. Cora took in one deep breath before she opened the door; her eyes widened in surprise.

There Wybie was, and not in his trench coat! There he was, standing there in a red T-shirt and a long sleeved white shirt underneath, a pair of jeans, and black sneakers. Seeing the sight in front of her was just…wow! Wybie however didn't seem to notice, he just continued on smiling.

"You ready?"

"Huh? Oh, y-yeah."

Coraline walked outside and closed the door, making sure it was locked before walking alongside Wybie to his motorbike. The button eyed girl had to blush when he picked her up and placed her on his bike before getting on, unaware of her nervousness. Next thing she knew they were off.

Wybie drove faster than usual towards…well, where ever they were going, he told his button eyed companion that it was to be a secret. Cora held on tight as they zoomed past everything, slightly scared that they were going to hit something; needless to say the Lovat boy knew what he was doing.

After what felt like a very long time, Wybie brought his bike to a halt; after getting off the bike, he helped Coraline off, taking his non-gloved hand in hers.

"You ready for your surprise?"

"Wybourne Lovat just where are you taking me? I hope we're not slug hunting."

Wybie chuckled, "not this time, come on, you'll love it."

The blue-black haired girl allowed the frizzy haired boy to lead her into the forest, doing his best to be a gentleman by helping her over trees and bushes; Cora had to say she was beginning to grow found of it, despite the fact she felt useless at times. Finally Wybie turned around and took her other hand in his, "here we are, I hope you like it."

Wybie brought her a few more steps more before he moved to her side so she could see. In front of them was a field, not their usual one, this one was different; that was what brought a big smile to her face. The field was filled with giant cornflowers, all in bloom and the light from the moon made their blue color shine like little blue orbs.

"Oh Wybie, it's gorgeous."

"I thought you would like it, I found it one day while I was biking."

"It's beautiful, I've never seen so many!"

The Lovat boy watched with a thoughtful smile as Cora went around and began examining the cornflowers one by one, saying things like 'I bet their growth is all because of the compounds in the soil' and 'it could be the way they're spaced'. Cora went on like that for a few good minutes before looking up at Wybie with a big smile, "thank you Wybie, I love it."

"That's not all," Wybie said knowingly as he helped her stand up, "I seem to recall a certain girl telling me she wanted to know how to dance." Cora paled with wide eyes, "y-you remember that?" The Lovat boy couldn't help but snicker; the look on her face was priceless.

"Yes now come here so I can show you how."

"Now?"

"Yes now, how else are you gonna learn?"

"Wybie I dunno, and besides how did you learn to dance?"

"I learned from my grandma, now get over here!"

"No!"

"Don't make me chase you…all right fine!"

Cora did learn to dance that night, but not until after Wybie chased her down.

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"You ready for our second date?"

Cora cringed, "how are you so confident? I feel like I'm at a disadvantage with all these secrets."

"Come on, where's your sense of adventure!"

Cora huffed but she put up with it, folding her arms in defeat as Wybie put her on his bike before zooming off again; in the end they were back at the field they were yesterday.

"Oh, are we learning another dance?"

Wybie laughed, "not this time, come on there's more to this field that I wanna show you."

Cora nodded as she allowed Wybie to take her further into the field, where the trees and bushes began to fill in. Cora got a little nervous, so she wrapped her arms around his arm; she smiled shyly, she enjoyed the close contact, especially when he drooped his head against hers as they walked.

Wybie sooner or later had to pull away so he could lead her, despite his mind telling him to stay close to her. He wanted to keep her close, but in order to do that, he had to take her to the next surprise. When he heard a familiar rushing sound, he picked up his speed, taking Cora with him.

Cora's eyebrow rose when she heard the rushing sound coming up ahead of them. She had never heard that sound before and was completely baffled as to what it would be. When Wybie brought her through the clearing, it took her breath away.

A beautiful waterfall laid ahead of her, cascading into a small clear lake; the edges were covered in more cornflowers and the trees opened up to a beautiful starry sky. She thought the field was beautiful but this waterfall was amazing!

"Wow…"

"You like it? You told me you'd never seen a waterfall."

Cora looked at him, "how do you remember all of this?"

"Good memory, come on."

Wybie led Cora closer to the water, allowing her to see that it held her reflection. While she did that, Wybie took off his shoes, rolled up his pants and dunked them in the water. Cora watched curiously and did the same; she flinched at how cold the water was at first, but eventually she was comfortable with it and relaxed. They were silent for awhile before Cora spoke up.

"Where does this water come from?"

"Hm, not sure, probably a river that runs through here, the water goes through a cave and just keeps on going."

"Wow, its amazing how much of the world I haven't seen."

Wybie startled her by placing his hand over hers; Cora looked over at him to see he had a small smile on his face.

"I'll take you where ever you want to go Cora."

It was at that moment, when he said that to her with such tender button eyes, that Cora finally was able to say to herself 'I love him'.

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"Wybie, why do we keep coming back to this place?! Is there treasure at the bottom of the lake?

Wybie's eyebrow rose, "what makes you say that?"

"Well what else could you possibly have left for me?"

"Oh, just one teeny tiny thing left that will complete our new spot."

Cora rolled her eyes at how excited Wybie was; he looked like a kid at the fair or something along those lines. Today was their last day of freedom before the spell would be broken and this Cinderella had to turn back into a pumpkin that belonged to the evil witch. Cora was sad that all of this would be for nothing if she didn't say she loved him soon. She never knew with her mother if she would live to see another day, so she had to make this last date really count.

"Do you see it?"

Cora jumped when Wybie spoke up, "see what?"

Wybie came up behind her and pointed, "right there, look."

The blue-black haired girl had to squint. It was hard to see but there was something there. Slowly but surely she soon realized what it was and when she did it brought tear to her eyes.

It was a swing.

"Wybie…did you-"

"Make it? Yep, just for you."

Cora beamed as she ran over to it, looking at it like it was some foreign object. Wybie couldn't help but laugh; deciding to take things into his own hands, he sat down then placed Cora in his lap. He then leaned down and whispered in her ear, "just relax and enjoy Cora." And they were off.

Cora at first was somewhat scared of the sudden rocking motion the swing was making, placing her hands tightly on the two ropes at her side; she wanted to slap Wybie for laughing at her. They both just sat there as they swung back and forth and back and forth, enjoying the feel of air through their hair and clothes. She rested against him and that's when she saw what Wybie spoke of all those months ago.

It did look like they were flying, higher and higher with every motion. The button eyed girl was in awe at all the stars she could see up in the sky tonight. She let out a deep sigh before looking up at the Lovat boy, "you really can fly on this thing." The two of them smiled at each other.

Then Cora felt like she was really flying when Wybie leaned down and kissed her.

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"Come on Cora!"

"No no no! You wicked boy leave me be!"

"Wicked? Wicked I am! Now come on!"

Cora rolled her eyes, "one kiss and you're addicted."

"That I am."

Wybie Lovat would never tire of Cora's kisses.

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"Oh my twitchy witchy girl…"

Cora looked up at Wybie as they rested on their swing; her eyebrow rose, "what are you singing?"

Wybie grinned, "it's a song I made…for you," he blushed.

Cora blinked, her face turning red, "you wrote me a song?"

"Just a little something I came up one day…

Oh my twitchy witchy girl

I think you are so nice,

I give you tons of porridge

I give you tons of ice…cream!"

Cora laughed as she hugged her boyfriend; that would be her favorite song for years to come.

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Wybie and Cora walked together holding hands down the street to her home; it was dinner time and if she was late her mother would be _very_ angry with her. Wybie had brought up on numerous occasions that they just run away from here, but Cora always had a good reason to stay; he just could never win an argument with her.

"Can I come get you tonight? We can go to our special place."

Cora nodded, "Maybe, I'll have to climb out of the window if we go anywhere."

"Ah, Rapunzel, Rapunzel let down your…blue hair!"

Cora punched him in the shoulder lightly, "hey! My hairs not that long," she then plucked a few strands to examine them with her eyes. Cora's face scrunched up, "I think I need to cut it, its getting too long!" The girl gasped when Wybie came up behind her with a hug, resting his head on her shoulder, "don't, I like your hair like this."

He couldn't see it, but Cora's face turned bright red; even though they've been together now for months, he always knew how to make her smile, make her laugh, even make her blush, he knew all her weaknesses. At first she was at a disadvantage, but shortly after dating she began to learn how to make him smile, make him laugh and make him blush; she felt…equal to him.

"I love you Cora."

"I love you Wybie."

When he pulled her in for a kiss, the both of them were unaware that the Beldam had opened the door and saw her daughter kissing an unknown boy. Her mother let out a piercing scream, making the two of them break away in fear.

"HOW DARE YOU!"

The sky darkened with clouds and the winds picked up like a hurricane was coming; the ground shook and broke up underneath their feet. Wybie did his best to hold onto Cora's hand but when Beldam grabbed her daughter by the shoulder he didn't have the strength.

Cora watched in horror as she was pulled away from him, kicking and screaming for her mother to let her go all the way. The button eyed girl dug her fingers into the ground to slow her mother down, but it did no good, for within a blink of an eye, she was at the front door.

"WYBIE!"

"CORALINE!"

Cora reached out her hand for his but the door was slammed in her face.

"NO! LET ME GO!" Cora screamed as she tried to get her mother's grip off of her but the woman would just not let go. "Spending your time with someone else, how could you?! Your own mother? Well you'll have a month to think about what you've done." Before Cora could even respond her mother threw her into the cold room past the hall mirror.

Cora tried to get out but her mother sealed the portal shut.

"NO! LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT! I DON'T WANT THIS! WYBIE! WYYYYYBBBBBIEEEEEEE!!!!"

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Behold the world's longest chapter! XD

Sorry for the long wait, midterms and all. I hope you guys like this chapter, next chapter will be important about Other Coraline Other Wybie too ^^ Please review!


	7. Not the Same?

Chapter 7

Not the Same?

Wybie grunted as his pin broke in the lock again; he quickly threw it to the ground and plucked another one from his pocket, starting over again.

It had been over a month since he watched the love of his life be yanked away from him and be trapped in this pink painted hell. There had been no sign of her at the market or in her garden and or even in her own home! It was if Coraline had never existed; at least, that's how the Beldam made it look.

Drat! This one broke too! Wybie picked up another one. He had been trying to break into this house the whole time Cora went missing. Wybie Lovat was not about to let that…that _thing_, hurt his beloved Cora anymore. He just hoped the door opened soon, he was running out of pins and his grandma was wondering where all of her hair pins were going.

Then, his wish was granted and a thin hand dragged him inside.

"Well hello Wybie dear."

Wybourne growled at the sight of the cheerful Beldam standing in front of him, nothing but looking completely innocent; God he hated her. The button eyed boy looked around to see if his girlfriend was there, but, just as was suspected, she was no where to be seen.

"My my you've been a busy boy, trying to break into my house every day for the past month, I must say I'm impressed with your dedication," the Beldam said, her smile turning into some form of a smirk, hands on her hips. Wybie cringed, "I just want Coraline! Give her to me!"

"You want dear Coraline? Well all right then."

"I-say what?"

The Beldam chuckled as she turned around and saunters into the kitchen, a cautious Wybie following suite. "I said dear boy that if you want Coraline, you can have her," the tall woman said as she placed a chicken in the oven to bake; Wybie's eyebrow rose, was she having company?

"What's the catch?"

"Not a catch, just a teeny tiny favor…"

"And why would I do that?"

The Beldam glared at him, "because otherwise I continue to let my daughter rot!"

Wybie's button eyes widened at her words; he knew she would keep her word if he didn't do what she wanted, not if he wanted Cora in one piece. He would do anything for the blue-black haired girl; she probably knew that too, that's what she asked.

"…what do you want?"

The Beldam beamed, "well, Coraline's coming over tonight for dinner and-"

"What?"

"Coraline or rather, the Other Coraline."

"There's an Other Coraline?"

"Of course, everyone has an Other, anyway, you look just like her friend and I want you to help convince her to stay here with me."

"Why would I do that?"

"Well if you want our Coraline, I have to have one stay with me to keep me company."

Wybie nodded in understanding; it seems in a way the Beldam would never give Coraline up. But, he would do it, for Coraline, _his _Coraline; he would give the Other one to the Beldam. It may be harsh, it may be cruel, but he didn't care, he just wanted to take Cora away from his place forever.

"Fine…I'll do it."

"Splendid! Oh, and there is one more thing."

Wybie would have spoken up if he didn't have his vocal cords taken away from him.

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Wybie tried to speak again, but there was no luck, nothing came up.

_Don't worry dear, just smile for me and Coraline will be all yours_.

That rung through his mind every time he thought about ringing the Beldam's neck; he had to keep focused, for Cora. The door opened up, he put on a big smile and walked inside to meet the Coraline with non-button eyes.

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_Isn't she just like our Coraline Wybourne?_

Just like? Hah! Barely!

His Coraline was giving, sweet, and mature, this one was selfish, rude, and a big baby! So her life back home is bad, her parent's don't give her a lot of attention, big deal! Cora had it much worse with her overbearing, abusive mother. If he didn't believe in hitting girls he would slap her!

Be calm, Wybie, just a few more days, then Cora and him would leave this place.

"Planning something?"

Wybie jumped at the sudden, unknown voice that came from his feet. He looked down to see a rather shabby looking black cat; Wybie took note that he had eyes just like the Coraline from the other world. Wybie would have said something, but again, no voice.

"I see you're playing her game."

Wybie nodded.

"Are you doing this for a reason?"

He nodded again.

"No doubt for the Other Coraline."

He hesitated; how did this cat know about Cora? Never the less he nodded.

"Then, and I'm just guessing here, that must mean you think she's still in this world, well I'm sorry to tell you this, but your wrong, your Coraline isn't here anymore."

Wybie froze in fear. Not here? Did that mean…no…

The button eyed boy's blood boiled. It was pay back time.

If he couldn't have Coraline, then neither could she.

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The Beldam threw him against the wall, "you insolent little brat! All I asked of you was that you help me keep her here and what do you do? You stop smiling! So I gave you a bigger smile as a warning, and THEN you let her go! Do you not love your precious Coraline enough to keep her safe?!"

Wybie looked up at her with a glare on his face, letting what he couldn't convey in words be known. The Beldam's eyes widened, "oh…" she smirked wickedly, "I guess you found out then." Wybie's glare deepened in response, "so you decided to get back at me by sending her look alike home? Hehehe…well then YOU WILL SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES!"

Wybie would let her do whatever she wanted, just as long as he killed him quickly so he could be with his Coraline.

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End of Chapter 7

Very short compared to the last chapter, but I felt that Other Wybie needed to be heard.

Mayhem will ensue in the next chapter.


	8. The End?

The Other Coraline

The End?

CRUNCH!

The Beldam crushed another bug in her hand and gobbled it up; another popped up and she repeated the same motions. Here she was, eating bugs in order to keep her hunger satisfied. It wasn't that there wasn't any food in the house; it was that there was nothing small to feed off of, nothing that could put up a fight.

Something alive.

Both Coraline's were gone as were the other children she fed off of, her neighbors were dead and she cut off all contact with the rest of the world. There was nothing to do but hate this place and this world and everyone in it. This was all just a nightmare where there was nothing or no one to bring any pain to and she needed to wake up from it. That's it…all a dream…She was so lost in her thoughts, she barely felt the cold gloved hand touch her shoulder.

"Mom?...Mommy? Mommy are you hungry?"

The Beldam nodded harshly at the sweet young voice, "yes."

"Would you like me to make something for you?"

"Yes…yes Coraline go make me something to eat and maybe I won't punish you."

Cora stood up straight and looked down at her mother with a disinterested face, "all right mother…I'll be right back." The girl with button clips made her way out of the bug room and into the kitchen, humming softly as she looked around. It was then she broke out into song; something that began to draw her mother out of her thoughts.

"Oh my twitchy witchy girl,

I think you are so nice,

I bring you tons of porridge,

I bring you tons of ice-cream!"

It was then, when she heard that awful song that Wybie Lovat created for her daughter did she realize what was really going on. The Beldam quickly got up and ran into the kitchen, which was quick due to her long strides. The woman gripped the sides of the door frame as she looked upon the back of her daughter…her real daughter. Cora was silent for a second before she turned around.

With a creepy looking grin, Cora showed the tall woman her shiny knife.

"Mother! It's time for dinner!"

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Wybie was the first to crawl out of the hall and into the Other World, quickly turning to help Coraline out. The girl looked down at Cat with sorrowful eyes, "so…that really happened? Cora…Wybie…all of it?" Their feline friend nodded, "after Cora left, it was only a matter of time before you and the other children came, the Other Mother disconnected her home from the rest of her land to make it look like there was no way out."

The two humans nodded in understanding, Coraline more than Wybie. She felt horrible for the two Other's; all they wanted was to be together far away from this place and the Beldam ruined it all. I mean, Cora had hinted to how terrible her mother was but this…everything she saw…

"GIVE HIM BACK!"

Both the Lovat boy and the Jones girl jumped at the sudden outburst that came from further in the house and the crash that followed it. Coraline quickly grabbed Wybie by the collar and dragged him behind the couch; the sounds and the screaming continued, and being curious, they peaked over the couch. Though they couldn't see anything, it was clear who was having the fight.

"CORALINE YOU-"

"?! YOU STUFFED HIM WITH RATS?! WHY COULDN'T YOU HAVE LEFT HIM ALONE!"

"IF YOU-"

"MISS SPINK AND FORCIBLE?! YOU TURNED THEN INTO TAFFY! THEY DIED BECAUSE YOU SACRIFICED THEM!"

"HOW DA-"

"AND WYBIE…WYBIE YOU TOOK AWAY HIS VOICE! THEN YOU KILLED HIM! HOW COULD YOU?! YOU RUINED EVERYTHING YOU **MONSTER**! I HATE YOU! I WISH YOU WOULD JUST-"

The sentence was never finished because the next thing they knew Cora was flung into the family room with a loud thump; her kitchen knife was knocked out of her hand and dragged itself towards the fireplace. Coraline and Wybie watched their comrade struggle to sit up, they could see the blood trickling from her many wounds; more than likely bruises would form later, but luckily no broken bones. The bleeding button clipped girl, as she was getting up, caught the eye of her look alike and fear came to her face. When the Beldam entered the room, Cora turned her attention back to her; she knew the gangly woman didn't see them yet and that just meant she had to keep her mother's button eyes on her.

The Beldam growled as she wiped the blood from her cut cheek, "apologize…now! Coraline!"

Cora merely smirked at her and let out a struggled laugh.

"Go to hell…you bitch."

Coraline buried her face in Wybie's chest as she heard Cora's screams from the Beldam beating her.

After what felt like forever, the Beldam stood up and sauntered out of the room, closing the doors behind her; she tired of her daughter already.

When she knew the coast was clear, Coraline crawled over to her bloody Other, her eyes filled with tears as she looked at how damaged Cora was. Wybie felt his anger rise into his throat at the sight before him; was this how his Other felt when he saw her like this all that time?

The injured Cora looked up at Coraline with tired eyes, "just let her take me…"

Coraline shook her head as she lay down next to her, not even worrying about getting blood on her clothes and hair, "no."

Cora nodded poorly, "yes…it's all my fault…all those people…dead…just let her take me…"

"No, no Cora, you can't, you have to come home with us a-and play games and have dinner with us, you have to, for Other Wybie."

Cora blinked like she was about to fall asleep, "no…not this time Coraline…" she took the girl's hand into her bloodied one, "you have so much to live for…so many people who love you…you need to live…but me…I…"

Coraline felt her tears poor down her face like waterfalls; Wybie hugged the girl from behind to comfort her as tears fell from his.

"I…just want…to sleep-"

_THUMP_

All three of them jumped when the sound came from underneath them; even the exhausted Cora sat up to look down intensely at the floorboards.

Could someone be down there?

Cora looked up at her two friends with a determined look; if someone was down there, she was going to make sure they got out of here too. "You two stay here and hide, I'll be right back," Cora said as she struggled to get up. "N-no, you should lie down or you're wounds will get worse," Wybie said, still keeping Coraline close to him while he looked at the Other with distress. Cora rolled her eyes, "I've gone to the brink of death and back Wybie, I'm not about to let the same happen to you or anyone else, so just _stay here_!" and with that she snuck out of the room.

It didn't take long for Cora to find her way to the basement and she was good at being as silent as she possibly could, despite her weak body. Very slowly and very carefully she used her powers to open the door; this door was only able to be opened by her mother, but what the Beldam didn't know was that Cora learned the spell. Her mother didn't know how smart her daughter really was; that's probably why she survived all these years. When the door was wide enough, Cora slipped through it and down the stairs.

Cora had to produce a light charm due to the lack of light in the room, plus she couldn't find the switch to turn them on. The Other Coraline shivered; this was the place her mother took people to really 'punish' them; she was fortunate enough to have never been brought down her, despite her mother constantly threatening to do so. She cringed as she saw the bones of those her mother punished and left to rot down here, stepping over them the best that she could.

After going deep within the confines of the basement, Cora came across something rather peculiar and out of place: a shoe. The blue-black haired girl picked it up and examined it with her mismatched eyes. Could it be that this shoe was the thing that made the noise? And if so how did it hit the top of the ceiling? The only conclusion was that some had to be alive down here to throw it.

Cora heard a muffled groan come from a few steps ahead of her, causing her to go stiff. It was clear she was scared, but she came down here for a reason, and she planned to save whoever was trapped here. She gathered herself together, took in a deep breathe, and continued on.

It only took a few steps before she came upon the person in distress, seeing one barefoot and one foot with the same shoe from earlier. Cora raised her glowing hand up so she could get a better look. What she saw made her nearly fall over in shock.

"W-Wybie?"

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End of Chapter 8

Well, there you have it, the beginning of all the mess I have planned for them ^^ I hope you liked it, please review!


	9. Fight for Freedom

Chapter Nine

Fight for Freedom

Cora dropped to her knees as she looked upon the boy she had fallen in love with all those years ago; the boy she thought had died by her mother's hands, was alive. She promptly crawled over to him and cupped his face in her hands, brushing his hair out of his eyes.

Though he was alive, Wybie was worse for wear. His hair was in utter disarray, more than usual, his clothes were torn and dirty, and his body was badly damaged with bruises and cut and infected scars. What was more disturbing than all of that was that his face had been sewn into a giant, pained smile, cracked skin and dried blood lined his lips. It was evident that the Beldam took her time at torturing the boy.

"Wybie? Wybie look at me, darling open your eyes."

Her pleading voice seemed to pull him from his dozy state, looking up at her with wide black button eyes; it was clear that he was just as shocked seeing her.

That was true. Wybie only threw the shoe because he heard voices and he was hoping it was scare them enough to get them out. Instead, here he was, looking into the mismatched eyes of his beloved Cora who he thought died at the hands of her abusive mother. He would have hugged and kissed her if he wasn't shackled to the wall and his lips were pulled up into a smile. He let out a tiny muffle as he leaned towards her.

Cora nodded, "its ok, its ok I'm going to get you out of here." The girl used her more than human strength to tear the shackles off of his sore wrists; she felt him falling forward but she managed to support him up. "It's all right Wybie, I got you, now lets get rid of this," she said softly as she pulled the strings out of his skin that held his lips up. He let out a low pitched scream at the pain, only to have them muffled by Cora hugging him tightly. Neither of them seemed to bother the blood that dripped from both of their wounds.

"I thought I'd never see you again…oh Wybie I love you."

Wybie could only pet her hair in response; her grip tightened when she realized he still couldn't talk.

Cora let out a strangled sob, "c-come, on, we got to get out of here."

The two of them managed to get out of the basement safely, though Cora had to help Wybie up as they climbed the stairs. They were so close to their freedom Cora could fill it building up in her mouth with every step; she was positive that Wybie felt it too. It was almost over.

That is until they found the Beldam standing there at the door.

Cora's face paled at the sight of her mother looking down at them with a smirk and murderous intent in her eyes. She wanted to run again, she wanted to run and hide and never see this place again. The Other Coraline always said she wasn't scared of her mother, but the truth was that she was terrified; her whole body was numb.

Then Wybie squeezed her hand.

Courage and strength began to fill her body. She had a reason to fight this time, just like all those years ago. She had Wybie, her Wybie was alive! He was worth fighting for. And their Others! They were worth fighting for! And their families and the world that was waiting for them beyond that small door in the family room! Everything she loved was in danger, and you don't go after Cora's loved ones.

Using her magic she made the knife in the family room rush to her hand and she proceeded to stab the Beldam in the rib cage, thrusting her against the wall to make it go in deeper.

The Beldam's high pitched scream made Coraline and Wybie rush out of their hiding spot to see what the commotion was; both of their jaws dropped when they saw Cora running a blade through her mother not to mention seeing Wybie's Other alive and kicking. When she did the most damage she kicked the woman to ground, grabbed the Other Wybie's hand and ran down the hall to the family room.

When they were safe enough Cora threw her Wybie into the family room and looked at her Other. "Cat knows what to do, I'll keep her busy!" Coraline wanted to reply but Cora used her magic to slam and lock the doors. Wybie's Other ran to the doors and tried to pry them open when he heard Cora's screams, but they wouldn't budge.

"It's no good, bring him here!" Cat demanded.

Both Coraline and Wybie had to drag the button eyed boy to the small door and darn it was hard even then. Coraline pushed him down while Wybie held him down for their feline comrade to do his work. They were curious as to what he was planning to do.

"I apologize dear boy, but this has to happen," the two humans watched in shock as Cat ripped out the Other Wybie's button eyes.

Cat yelled at them to hold the thrashing boy down while he performed the spell, doing their best to ignore the cries outside the room. The feline jumped upon Wybie's chest with something in his mouth; next thing they knew there was a brilliant flash of light and Cora was thrown into the doors and crashed into the fireplace mantle.

Coraline screamed as she watched her Other fall in a crumpled heap upon the floor. All three of the other world dwellers looked in horror at the unmoving girl, not even bothering to look at the Beldam who was struggling to get in. They weren't even pulled out of their thoughts until a blur that was Other Wybie ran to her side, cradling her in his arms.

"YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS YOU LITTLE BI-" the cockroach closet was hung at the Beldam, throwing her back into the hall.

Everyone looked over to find Cora used whatever magic she had left to attack her mother. The button clipped girl couldn't help but chuckle wearily at causing the Beldam more bodily harm. However they all knew she wouldn't stay down her long.

"There's no time get through the door!"

Cat didn't need to tell twice because they all dashed towards the door, Other Wybie carrying Other Coraline to it. It was surprising that all of them managed to get through it and closed the door without any problems. After doing so, the 5 of them lingered in the hallway to catch their breath.

The door bumped loudly, the Beldam's screams could be heard.

It was then all them booked it down the hall and into the human world.

Cora felt tears coming on when she collapsed on the floor of Coraline's family room floor.

They were free.

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Shortly after arriving safely back home, Coraline insisted that they tend to the Other's wounds; Cora's especially because they weren't sure what was damaged when she was thrown against the mantle. Somehow the two of them didn't have internal bleeding; it looked liked Other's healing ability was more advanced than humans too.

After taking a nice long shower and dressing her wounds, Cora dressed in her pajama's and decided to head up to bed after saying goodnight to Coraline and Wybie, who decided to sleep over. It was odd; to her, this was all a wonderful dream, minus the injuries. She was sure she would wake up soon and all this would be gone.

But seeing her beloved Wybie sitting there waiting for her meant this wasn't a dream.

Wybie was able to get a shower too and get his wounds tended, which took a long time due to the extensive damage the Beldam caused; luckily the human Wybie had a few spare clothes that Other Wybie could use. He seemed to have the same idea of going to bed until he saw his Cora standing there.

It didn't take more than a second for Wybie to snatch Cora up into his arms and place his lips on hers. God how she missed this, his warmth, his touch, his kisses; it was amazing she lasted almost 200 years without this. Wybie seemed to be thinking the same thing again as he barely stopped his kisses and hugs from consuming Cora whole.

Despite the fact the two of them couldn't stop, they felt sleep begin to take control. The Other's settled for lying in each other's arms and let their breathing slow down.

Cora went to sleep staring into those gorgeous mismatched eyes…one gold…one green…

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Yay! A little happiness for all! I had to give them something.

This is NOT the final chapter guys! More is to come! Stick around for more!


	10. Its Not Over

Chapter 10

It's Not Over

Coraline opened her eyes at the blinding light that shone above her head. The sky was a brilliant blue and waves of gold and stars twisting and dancing with each other. It was warm on the golden grass…wait…grass?

Oh great…she was dreaming.

She should have known better; she was back in the realm where she met the three ghost children, at least that's how it looked. And when she saw globes float down towards her, she felt that that's who wanting to see here. It was the three children but with them…there were three more.

Mr. Bobinski, Miss Forcible and Miss Spink…from the Other world.

Coraline's heart sank, they really did die in the end; Cora would be saddened to hear that when she told her. The six of them floated around her, the look of concern on their faces as they looked at the blue-black haired girl.

"It is good to see you again Caroline," Miss Spink stated.

Coraline nodded, "yes, likewise…I'm so sorry I couldn't save you."

Mr. Bobinski shook his now golden head, "do not vorry yourself about it Caroline."

"It is better this way, to be free from the Beldam's grasp," Miss Forcible explained.

"So…then why are you all here?"

The curly haired girl spoke up then, "girl…it is not over yet."

"…wh-what?"

"I'm afraid she's right my dear, we have come to give you a warning."

"But, Miss Spink we here! Me, Cora, both the Wybie's! What's there to warn us about?!"

Wybie's grandmother's sister touched Coraline's shoulder, "now that she knows where her daughter is, she will never let your Other's go!"

Coraline gasped, "no…"

The boy shook his head, "we are sorry miss, but it is far from being over…you must be ready…"

Coraline awoke from her dream, jumping up into a sitting position. She was back in her room now, safe in her bed, Wybie Lovat snoring on the air mattress next to her bed. It had been over a two weeks since they saved Wyb (their nickname for Other Wybie, despite the fact he hated it) and things had been going so well. Besides…it was only a dream.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Coraline let out a quick yelp at the scream that echoed through the house; even Wybie woke up and scrambled to stand up. Wybie was about to ask her what was going on, but another scream was heard.

It was coming from up in Cora and Wyb's room.

It didn't take long for the two of them to climb up the ladder and be by their bedside. The sight was needless to say, frightening. It took all their strength not to scream.

The Other Wybie was cradling the screaming Cora in his arms, her body writhing in pain. The boy was clearly suffering, but in a mental way due to seeing the girl he loved wracked in agonizing pain and not being able to do anything to make it better. The button clipped girl gripped Wyb's shoulders as she pulled herself up; this was the sight that frightened them.

Cora's mismatched eyes held tears of black blood.

It truly wasn't over…and they were not prepared for this.

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End of Chapter 10

A quick update. Some were skeptical that more was to come and well…I wanted to prove that I was telling the truth ^^

It might be awhile before I update next, but I hope to do update again by the end of the week.


	11. I Worry

Chapter 11

I Worry

Ever since that night, when I cried black blood, I knew it wasn't over.

I watched in horror as my love and the Others looked down at me with concerned, tearful face. They tried to make it stop, but the flow only got worse. It wasn't for an hour that the last drop flowed down my face.

It started with a dream I had, one of my mother, the monster Beldam with her thin, boney fingers wrapped around my throat. I tried to cry out for help, but nothing came from my mouth. My mother watched with wicked button eyes and said in a low, frightening voice something that made my bones chill.

"I will never let go."

That dream threw me right into the excruciating pain I found myself in the real world.

I worry that if I go to sleep again, she'll be there waiting for me and I cry blood again; I worry that I have to have my beloved Wyb hold me while I writhe in pain all night. I can't stand seeing those beautiful eyes with such sorrow in them.

I don't sleep anymore, I can't take the risk. I do whatever I can to stay awake and keep myself away from those nightmares. It's a stupid idea I know, but what else can I do?

I'm exhausted all the time, I've resorted to drinking coffee and strong tea every hour to help; it doesn't. I can feel myself slipping.

I worry about Wyb now; he's been trying to make me sleep but I won't listen; I can't listen. Coraline and Wybie do the same, but I've become so snappy as of late, they tend to keep their mouths shut.

I worry I am pushing them away, but what else is there? There's no other option. If I stay awake, even if it kills me, they'll be safe; that's my plan.

I worry for them, there's no point worrying about me.

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End of Chapter 11

Another short one and I apologize but at the moment I'm having a bit of an artist block on this story. I plan to have another done by the end of the week. Please review!


	12. It's Time

Chapter 12

It's Time

A cool gloved hand touched her face.

Cora quickly open her blood shot eyes to find her Wyb looking down at her with worried mismatched eyes. She had to squint from the bright light that came through the cherry tree branches that she and he were resting on. The button clipped girl had come here to get some peace from her nagging twin and Wyb, well he must of come looking for her.

Cora chuckled, "I'm sorry, I must have dozed off."

Wyb worried face worsened as she rubbed her eyes, noticing the bags under them had gotten worse. It had almost a week now since Cora was attacked in her dreams and ever since then she had been avoiding sleep all together. It got to the point now that Cora would faint on her feet or falls asleep at the dinner table; at the rate she was going she was going to break into a million pieces.

Her twin, her boyfriend and his twin had no choice but to force Cora to sleep. Each of them would take turns watching her and when they saw the slightest bit of something going wrong, they would wake her up. Things went well as first, Cora would at least get an hour in before they had to wake her up, but her time was getting shorter and shorter. The Other Coraline would only get a solid 10-15 minutes before her mother would invade her dreams.

Wyb collected the girl in his arms, working on plucked the cherry blossom petals that were stuck in her hair. Cora protested at first but she let her words drone off, deciding to rest her chin on the crook of his arm with a baby pout of her face. When the boy had removed all the fluffy pink petals, he placed his head upon her bluish black hair, placing his lips on her head. The girl found herself blushing lightly, grasping his coat with her pale hands.

"I'm ok…really Wybie…"

But Wyb didn't listen; he only tightened his grip even more. It didn't take Cora long to figure out what he was thinking. Cora found it very easy to know what Wyb wanted to say despite his lack of a voice. She knew he was extremely worried about her; then again so were Wybie and Coraline, she was worrying everyone.

"I'm all right, please don't worry about me…please…"

Wyb felt her droop on him; she must have fallen asleep. He smiled lightly; she looked so peaceful when she slept, even with the bags under her eyes. The golden, green eyed boy leaned up against a sturdy tree branch, looking up at the sky with an expressionless face. Things were getting nasty; Beldam would never let Cora have peace, or any of them for that matter. The only way to stop this would have to destroy the monster. But how could he asked Cora to fight against her, and her condition, and on top of that Cora didn't need to go back to such a place with such horrible memories. No. He would never force her to do that.

Cora shifted in his arms, letting out a low pitch whine and a pained look on her face. Wyb's eyes widen in fear as he quickly shook her by the shoulders. It didn't take too long for her to open her tired eyes; she scoffed before resting her head on his shoulder in defeat.

"Sorry…"

Wyb had to find a way to save her, save all of them. They were running out of time.

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"You want us to go back?!"

Coraline and Wybie looked at the Other Wybie with dropped jaws, especially at the message he wrote of his trusty mini chalkboard. Cora was off somewhere and Wyb thought this was a great chance to propose his idea. He didn't predict their Other's reactions though.

"N-not that I don't think we should help out but heh, I dunno if this is the way to go Wyb."

Wyb glared at his Other before wiping off his previous message and writing a new one.

_How DO you propose we do it?_

"Isn't there some way we can do it from here?" Coraline inquired.

Wyb tilted his head at Coraline with a raised eyebrow. The human girl sighed as she took a seat across Wyb, "that's right, magic doesn't work here." Wybie groaned lightly as he sat down.

"But how can we defeat her? Is there a way to do it?"

"There is."

The three of them looked over to find a serious Cora standing in the kitchen doorway; a surprised look on all their faces. The button clipped girl began to walk over, "according to my books, as well as a reliable source, that if we destroy the Beldam's eyes, they we destroy her, seeing as how it is her life source and where she gets her magic." Coraline looked at her curiously, "reliable source?"

"Mrrow."

All of them looked down to find Cat sitting next to Wybie's leg, his head held high with such pride. Cora chuckled, "superior creatures…" she said in a sing song tone that made her twin growl. Cat made his way under the table towards Cora, who picked him up and placed him upon her lap.

"But Cora, are you ready for this? Can you handle it?"

Wyb took Cora's hand in his under the table before she spoke up. "This is the only way to save all of us, if we don't she'll keep taking children and attacking us in any way she can," she gulped down her fear, "she'll never stop, not unless we stop her now."

"Aren't you scared?" Wybie asked.

Cora looked up at the people in the room with an unsure face. She gulped once again. The Other Coraline was about to let something come out that she never admitted out loud before; something she never even admitted to Wyb.

"I'm terrified."

That hit Coraline hard. Cora was such a strong girl. She always took everything with stride and showed bravery when she had to. The fact that Cora was scared and was still willing to go into the belly of the beast, well, Coraline had new found admiration for her look alike.

"I won't ask you to go with me, but I don't want you to stop me either-"

"What are you talking about?" Wybie asked.

"Of course we're going with you!" Coraline added.

Cora jolted up in her seat in surprise at the two's declaration. "We're in this together Cora, not matter what," Coraline stated as she looked at her best friend. "Yeah! We're gonna finish this!" Wybie said with determination. The squeeze of her hand made Cora turn to look at her smiling boyfriend, a smile that made her know he wasn't going to back out of this either. Cora's surprised face turned tender and living with a smile that could melt the coldest heart.

"Thank you."

The four of them talked about their plan for a little bit longer before they collected the things they needed. Cora handed each of them some unique looking items, one of which was a stone that looked similar to the one Coraline used to defeat the Beldam the first time. Once they were ready, they waited for Coraline's parents to fall asleep; they used the excuse that they were having a slumber party in the family room. When they heard her father's deep snoring coming through the ceiling, they made their way to the little door.

Coraline let out a deep breathe, "let's do this."

Cora opened the door.

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End of Chapter 12

Hi guys! So sorry I haven't updated in awhile; finals took up my time and for some reason I took summer classes too *faints*. In any case I'm done, I've been re-inspired and I'm ready to go! Next chapter is in the works ladies and gents. Please comment! See ya!


	13. It Will Always Be Me

Chapter 13

It Will Always Be Me

It didn't take long for the four people to crawl through the tiny hall and into the Other world. Wyb was the first one to get to the door, cracking it open to see if the coast was clear. To his surprised, the gold and green eyed boy found the living room to be empty, no sign of the Beldam.

In fact, he didn't even hear anyone in the house.

"Strange," Wybie said when he turned around to help Coraline through the door.

"I know it's going to sound weird, but where the heck is that thing?" Coraline asked.

Cora walked further into the family room, keeping silent as she looked around as if she was expecting the Beldam to jump down from the ceiling. The Other Wybie came up to her and placed a gloved hand on her delicate shoulder. Cora turned her head so she could look at her boyfriend, her eyes slightly widened and from her realization.

"She's not here."

"W-well where is she?" Wybie asked, looking from both sides of him, ignoring Coraline's rolling eyes at his stutter.

The Other Coraline opened the sliding doors and walked into the hallway. Despite her mother's immense power, she could never hide herself from her daughter; Cora was far too powerful to have anyone's magic not go un-noticed by her. It was one of the girl's many talents. Never the less, the blue and brown eyed girl couldn't understand why that insane woman that called herself her mother would be gone. The Beldam never left-

Ah.

"It's April."

The other three children in the room looked up when Cora responded. Coraline's faced scrunched up in confusion, "what does the month have to do with anything." Cora turned back into the room to explain, "every year during this time in April, the Beldam goes off to this 'meeting' and doesn't return for 3 days."

"What type of meeting?"

"I don't know," she responded to Wybie's question, "to be honest, I never wanted to find out."

"But this good right? Its gives us an advantage," Wybie said with some perk in his voice, looking at Coraline for a response; she nodded and looked at their others. "Wybie's right, this means that she wont know we're coming!"

"I have no doubt she knows we're here."

Coraline and Wybie's face dropped at Cora's blunt comment, they could see that even Wyb agreed with his Coraline. "But there is a chance we could set a trap to throw her off." Cora added on, causing their Other's to put their positive face back on.

So the four of them discussed their plan, one that they were sure was foolproof. Once that was taken care of, they, despite how odd it sounded, got comfortable in the house. First Cora had to shift the magic that lived in the house.

"How can you do that?"

Cora turned to her Other, with the faintest smile on her face, "come with me."

The three kids followed the Beldam's daughter through the house, out the back door and led them to her garden, or rather, what was left of it. It was just like Coraline's last time visited it. The whole place smelled of wet rot, a beat filled the air as if the garden was a wicked, living creature. The two humans of the group, hunched up in fear and disgust as Cora and Wyb went into the heart of garden. The once button-eyed boy looked at his girlfriend, his heart sinking at the look on her face. She was distraught, it was so much worse than she thought. She shouldn't have been surprised really, the Beldam tried killed everything and everyone that Cora had touched, in one way or another.

Instead of saying something, Cora merely walked over to the broken bridge; the one Coraline knew to be the thing that brought the Other Father's life to an end. The Other Coraline knelt down and with a delicate touch, set her magic into motion.

Coraline and Wybie watched in utter awe as the evil that surrounded the place vanished and was replaced with a more welcoming, soothing aura. The beauty that Coraline had first seen when she came to this world had returned, the life that Cora worked so hard to keep here came back with just a simple touch. Wyb came up behind the girl and placed her in his arms, a tender smile on his face, which brought one to Cora's as well.

"This is amazing Cora! How did you do that?" Coraline asked as she ran over to the Other's.

"A simple purification spell, pretty basic, but you need a lot of practice to cover large areas."

"Does that mean you can purify even the rest of the Other World?"

Cora shook her head, "I'm not strong enough to do that, the only way to bring the rest of this world back is to way it was is to kill the Beldam."

Coraline nodded in understanding, her eyes showing the same sadness that was in her Other's. They probably would have stayed there if Wybie hadn't piped up. "Hey I don't know about you, but heh, it's pretty chilly out here, why don't we head inside." The others agreed and began heading in, well, with the exception of Wyb, who was tugged back by his Cora. "You two head in, we'll be right there," the humans nodded and rushed back inside. Wyb turned to look at the girl with confusion, his head tilted as he placed his gloved hand on her cheek, showing her he wanted to know what was wrong.

"Wybie, I-I don't know how this is going to end," Cora dropped her head in defeat, "and I'm scared for our lives, more than I'm letting on but you," she laughed lightly, "you probably figured that out already."

Wyb rested his forehead against hers.

"Wybie…do remember that one night we were at out at our spot and I told you," she gulped, "about that other power of fine?"

It took Wyb a second to realize what she was talking about and when he did, his eyes widened in what Cora knew was fear…and horror.

"I-if it comes down to it, I will…I will have to use it," Wyb grabbed her arms, making her speed up her speech before he made her stop, "if it comes down to your life and the others I will use it!"

When her love looked at her with pleading eyes she left a choked sob spill from her lips, "I have to, if it means keeping you with me, I will do it."

There was no use in arguing with her, despite how he felt, he nodded in defeat.

"Just promise me one thing."

Wyb looked up at her.

"No matter what you see, no matter what I do, remember this: it is still me, it will always be me."

It was evident that Wyb was confused as what Cora was asking but he nodded none the less; he always knew he could trust Cora.

Cora gave him a small nod and a smile as a thank you; he responded by leaning in and giving her a kiss. When he pulled back his smile grew at the sight of his girlfriend pouting face, looking away with a tint of pink running across her cheeks and nose.

"Must you? Coraline and Wybie can see us."

Wyb replied with another kiss just for good measure.

Once that had been taken care of Wyb and Cora join their Others in the house, thankful that they didn't ask any questions. Instead they all fixed themselves some dinner, sat down at the table, and chatted for hours. They talked about sports, TV shows, the weather, anything to forget about what was going to happen soon. Sadly though, they couldn't keep the nagging thought away for long.

"When will she be back?"

Cora looked at Coraline, "it's Sunday, so I'd imagine in a few hours."

"We're ready?"

Wyb nodded.

"I wish we had more time, but its best we don't get comfortable."

"You'll know when she arrives?"

"Yes, the moment she steps onto this plane I'll know."

So they waited for the monster to return home, with there plan and their weapons ready. They were edge, but who wouldn't be; the three waited for their blue brown eyed comrade to give them a signal.

The clock struck midnight.

Cora looked towards the hallway.

"She's here."

They didn't even have time to collect themselves before the Beldam came through the door, a sinister smile was on her face when she looked at the 4 little ones standing before her, "well hello there my dears, so good of you to visit!" on the last word she slapped the air and caused a huge gush of wind to hit the humans and their Other's down to the ground. Cora was the first to respond with her own gust of wind, but it only caused the Beldam to lose her stepping; Wybie took this opportunity.

The boy ran over and used a pipe he found from his garage and swiped it at the woman's feet, making her fall to the ground with a shout. Coraline followed suite, pulling a pair of scissors out, ready to take the Beldam's eyes out. However the woman had other plans, using her clawed hand to push the two children into the wall and onto the floor.

"Coraline! Wybie!"

Wyb was the next to make a move, leaping onto the stairs railing in order to gain an advantage. It didn't work however caused the woman grabbed him by his armed hand and held him up, ready to attack, when she let out a pained scream.

She looked down to see her daughter pushing the stone with a hole onto her body. Just has Miss Spink had said, that particular item was good for bad things and it was doing its job; the Beldam was a bad thing, and the item was trying to get rid of it. In a flash Cora was pushed away due to the fact that the spider woman threw Wyb at her, causing them to slide to the end of the hall. The woman then turned her attention to the human Coraline and Wybie, who were just now waking up.

Cora gasped at the idea of what the Beldam was going to do to them as Wyb looked with horror-filled eyes; Cora's face became determined and turned to the boy next to her. "Wybie!" the boy turned to look at her, who placed her hands on his face, looking at him with apologetic eyes, "its always me, it will always be me, it'll…" by the third time she spoke her voice became layered and dark, her body hunching over as her bones gave off a cracking, almost shifting sound. Wyb had to watch in terror at to the transformation that his girlfriend was going through.

Meanwhile Coraline and Wybie were backing up into the wall in fear at the woman in front of them, leaning down, ready to tear them apart; just as she was about to, she stopped. When she turned around, and the two humans looked where she was looking, they all let out a gasp.

A figure slowly began to stand up right next to Wyb, who looked more worried than frightened as he looked at the unknown being. The being was tall and thin just like the Beldam, its hair was stringy but it was longer and deep blue. Its outfit was also like the Other Mother, only it was stripped rather than dotted, and it was longer. But the eyes, the eyes were the most frightening, for instead of buttons, it was just black voids. When the being's image was soaked into their minds, the Beldam spoke up.

"Coraline…"

The figure opened its closed eyes, revealing the most frightening thing of all, for instead of buttons, it was just black voids that were where eyes should be. When the voids fell upon the woman, a wicked, animalistic smirk came to its face, holding out a clawed hand.

"Surprise."

Surprise indeed! I am not dead! I am re-inspired and am so excited to continue the fanfiction, which is so close to being done. That being said, I am thinking of a sequel, and I'd like to know how many of you guys would like that. Please review and let me know!


	14. Breathe Again

Chapter Fourteen

Breathe Again

_About 150 years ago_

"Have you fallen asleep on me?"

The sound of the Other Wybie's laughing voice in her ear caused Cora to open her tired eyes. Tonight the two star-crossed lovers were at their spot, Wybie sitting on the swing while Cora straddled his lap, her arms draped around him and her face buried in the crook of his shoulder. Cora shifted a bit under him, "no…" she heard him laugh again and mutter the word 'liar' under his breathe, causing her to pout.

"It's almost time for us to head back," he said with sadness in his voice, burying his face in her cornflower blue hair. Cora let out a low whine, "don't wanna…hate that woman!" Wybie smiled; it was obvious she was just waking up, she only acted like a kid when she was. "Well…we could always leave?" he suggested, as he always did every night.

"Come on Wybie, you know I can't."

He huffed; same answer as always. Cora was too considerate of the other's around her and he…he was rather selfish he gathered. The whole idea of taking your girl away from the world sounded rather romantic to him, but to the girl in question, she was concerned about who Wybie would sacrifice in order to achieve that goal.

"Well, what would let you leave?" he said with a sharp tone.

The button eyed girl looked up at him with a rather surprised look, first from his tone and second, well, she had never thought about it much. Cora wanted to leave so much, she prayed every day she'd gather the courage to do so, but alas, she never did. She hummed in thought, looking up at the sky while so did so.

"If the Beldam were dead, that's when I'd leave."

"Is that even possible?" Wybie asked.

"It is, I've read of other…beings, like her that have died over the years, it's just never told how, but if I had to guess…"

"What?"

Cora looked back at him, "if we removed her power, then she'd be harmless, that's how." The button eyed boy let it sink in before he responded again, scratching his head while he spoke, "but who do we know that could do that?"

"I could."

Wybie looked up at her wide eyed, and judging by the bland expression on her face she was serious. He knew that Cora had the ability to control magic, from what she told him it ran through her family, at least on her mother's side. Cora never knew who her father was, but her theory was that he could use magic too, as she could do certain things her mother could not and therefore wasn't allowed to use them, like the ability to use light orbs and aura censoring. He knew all that, but he had no idea that she might be capable of killing anybody.

"Y-you could?" he stuttered.

"Not now I couldn't, I'm not strong enough."

Wybie sighed in relief; he didn't like the idea of his Cora killing anyone, she was too pure to do something like that. "If I got stronger, trained in secret, I should be able to strip her of her power."

"If you did that then we wouldn't have to leave," Wybie said with an upbeat tone.

Cora nodded, "that's the idea…"

Wybie's smile was removed from his face when he saw her face droop, leaning in so his forehead was against hers, "what is it?" His soothing voice pulled her from her thoughts, looking up with her shining black button eyes, "I-" she looked down as if she was ashamed, "I'm scared that if its me who does it, I'm going to turn into her." Wybie looked at her and laughed lightly, "you? Turning into her, I find that unlikely, what makes you think that?"

"Because…I can turn into something like her."

Wybie's smile once again left his face as he let her words sink in; seeing that made Cora jump into explaining. "I-it just happened one day, I was so angry at her and all I wanted to do was end her and then the next thing I know I…I look like her…" she waited for him to say something, every second he didn't speak made her fear the worst.

"But…it only happens when your angry?"

Cora sighed, "yes, and just that once, it never happened after that."

"And did you…you know, like it?"

"No!" she gasped, "no I hated it, it felt like I was under water and there was so much pressure on my chest, I never want to go through that again!"

"Well then?"

Cora was taken aback by his sweet smile; definitely not what she expected. The Other Wybie put his gloved hand on her cheek, "if you didn't like it and haven't done it since, there's nothing to worry about."

Hearing him say that made Cora sigh in relief and collapse into his hug.

"…but, what if I have to turn back into that one day?"

Wybie laughed, "we'll worry about that when we get to that day."

_Current Time_

The Beldam turned her body completely towards her daughter…or rather, her daughter's new form. Her face stayed blank but her eyes showed shock and awe. Perhaps she underestimated Cora's potential.

As for Cora herself, she too stayed quiet and stared back at the Beldam with the voids that were her eyes. She stood tall and strong; something she rarely did when it came to this place, this house, and the creature she stood opposite to.

Meanwhile, Coraline and Wybie took the opportunity to sneak past the Beldam and run to the Other Wybie's side; it was better to stay together rather than separated, especially in a situation like this.

Coraline could feel it in the air; things were going to get ugly.

"This is bad, this is really bad," Wybie said in a panicked voice and a jittery look.

"How did this happen? Cora never mentioned she could do that," she looked at the Other Wybie with an accusing look.

His only response was the sad look in his mismatched eyes as he looked the back of the distorted form that was Cora.

"So, how long have you been able to take on this form Coraline?"

Cora blinked in a bored manner, "since I was 10."

"Impressive, I have to admit I doubted your powers."

"Like I care."

The Beldam gave her daughter a glare. She quickly looked at the three huddled beings behind Cora before looking back at her, "I take it this doesn't mean you'll be helping me?" The daughter of the Beldam's frown deepened, "not interested." This made Coraline smile; even in this form she could still trust her Other. The Beldam sighed, "how disappointing…well all right then."

And then the fight began.

The two kids and the Other watched in fear and awe as the fight between mother and daughter began. There were physical moves and magical ones as a well, the Beldam would try to sneak attack her but Cora was always able to keep up with her. They stayed in stale mate for what seemed like forever; this didn't bother then because it meant that Cora's power rivaled the Beldam's and that was something they didn't expect.

"Should we help her?"

"I don't think that would be wise."

They looked down to see Cat had joined then, his big blue eyes watching the fight without even blinking, yet talking to them as if he were looking at them instead, "at the moment, Cora is the only one who can get to that creatures eyes, she knew that in this form it would be easier." Coraline butted in at this point, "but she's doing all the work, we just can't sit here and watch! There's gotta be something we can do!" She would have ranted some more if it weren't for Wyb placing a hand on her shoulder, which meant he wanted her to let it go. Coraline looked at him and then sighed; he believed in Cora, so so should she.

The next thing she knew the Beldam was on the floor.

Cora walked over to her, her hands still steaming from the fireball she sent the old hag's way and a dark look on her face; she felt triumphant, but she refused to show it until this creature was dead. The Beldam looked up at the looming figure, groaning from the pain she was feeling. "It's over, you've lost," Cora said between her heavy breathing; that pressure on her heart was getting heavier with each passing minute and she was losing clarity. But she wouldn't change back, not yet, not when they were so close, just one pluck on those creepy button eyes and they could end her. The idea of it all ending built up in Cora's heavy chest.

And then the Beldam started laughing.

Cora was taken aback, and so were her comrades. Why was she laughing? Was going crazy? More crazy then she already was? They didn't want to take the chance. With determination, Cora pulled her clawed hand back and then thrust it forward, ready for the kill.

And then the Beldam grabbed the Other Wybie.

The Other Coraline stopped in time from stabbing her boyfriend's eyes out, making her gasp in shock. Wybie and Coraline did it too; when had she grabbed him? Cora watched in horror as Wyb tried to wiggle his way out of the Beldam's gripped. The creature smirked as she stood up with Wyb in hand. Cora was so distracted she didn't notice the white strings creeping towards her from behind.

"Cora look out!" Wybie cried out.

It was too late though, the long, strong spider strings wrapped themselves around Cora's wrist and ankles. The girl struggled but it was no use and within a flash of light the Other Coraline was back to her original form. The girl groaned in pain and looked up at her mother and a worried Wyb with tired eyes.

"Looks like I win."

The next thing that happened was all a blur for them. The Beldam threw Wyb at the defeated Cora and proceeded to shoot a neon green blast; it hit the two Other's square one and sent them flying and crashing to the floor. Wybie and Coraline watched it all in horror.

By the time it was all over, Wyb and Cora weren't moving, weren't breathing.

Wyb and Cora laid there in each other's arms.

Dead.

Don't hurt me people! *ducks*


End file.
